The Musician and the Photographer
by GabeClarkie
Summary: Bella grew up and orphan, always wondering about her family. When a green-eyed man shows up at the coffee shop she works at will everything change? AH First Twific
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! It's been quite a few years since I've written any fanfiction, in fact my old account doesn't even exist anymore. I've been doing some other, original writing, but this plot idea could not get out of my head so I figured I'd give it a go. This is also the first Twilight based fiction I've done, so we'll see how it goes.**

**For now the story is from Bella's point of view, I currently plan on keeping it that way, but that may change as the story goes on. Also, I have very little knowledge regarding orphans/orphanages/foster care so if I'm completely off base, I apologize. **

**As always, I don't own the characters, I've just borrowed them for the purposes of this story.**

It had been a regular Tuesday afternoon; fairly slow a few people typing away quietly at laptops in the corners. It was unusually warm for an April in Seattle, Angela and I were sipping iced tea, fanning ourselves with extra filters. When I heard the tinkle of the door chime, I slid off my perch on the back counter and straightened my apron before approaching the register.

"What can I get you?" I asked, smiling as I looked up. My breath caught in my throat when I saw our newest customer. I couldn't blink as I took in all his beauty. I can't say for certain, but I wouldn't be surprised if my eyes had been bugging out. He had very light, golden brown hair that stuck out every which way, which somehow worked on him. He had an angular face and his jaw and cheek bones were well defined. His lips were full and soft looking, and his eyes were the greenest I'd even seen.

"Medium hot black coffee, please," his melodious voice responded.

"Hot? Are you sure you don't want iced?" I blurted out, trying to not sound so rude I stuttered out, "I mean, uh, it's really hot out."

_Way to sound like an idiot Bella_, I mentally cursed myself.

To my surprise he laughed.

"It is hot out isn't it?" He responded. Angela let out a giggle behind me, and I turned my head briefly and shot her daggers with my eyes, "But no, hot coffee for me. I'm not much of a fan of iced coffee. I feel like the flavor is lost, and for some reason it doesn't seem to have as much of an effect on me as I would like it to."

I nodded my head, "Hot coffee it is," I said sliding the cardboard sleeve onto a cup, handing it over to Angela, "A dollar seventy-nine please."

He handed me the money and I put it in the register, handing him his change back, which he promptly put into the tip jar. I couldn't help but notice that he was staring at me, like he was trying to figure me out somehow. When Angela handed him his coffee he nodded his head at us.

"Have a good day ladies," he said with a smile and then he was out the door.

I turned to Angela wide eyed as soon as the door clicked shut, freaking out, but she beat me to it.

"Did you see him checking you out! He couldn't take his eyes off of you!"

"Do I look ok?" I asked, frantically touching my hair, my front, looking myself over, desperately wishing for a mirror, "I don't look like too much a freak do I?"

"No, no you look fine," she said trying to calm me down, "beside you are one lucky girl, he was gorgeous!"

"Uhh I know, did you see his eyes? I've never seen eyes that green before?"

We continued to gush about the guy, which was unusual for us. I think the last time we got this worked up talking about a boy was the day she met her boyfriend, Ben.

"Do you think he'll come in tomorrow?" I asked.

"I dunno, I've never seen him in here before, but maybe. I mean who knows, but I bet he'll be coming in again to see you."

"You really think so?" I blushed, "Maybe I should make myself pretty tomorrow just in case. You know put on some make up."

"Bella, you do not need make-up. You're lucky like that, you've just got naturally beautiful features. Besides, he was definitely interested enough in looking at you just as you are today. You don't need to go overboard to try an impress anyone."

"Thanks Angie," I said softly, tilting my head to the ground, my brown locks brushing my cheeks as they fell, hopefully hiding my embarrassment.

"Oh Bella, you blush at everything," she teased, "It was a good thing he didn't compliment you, your face would have set on fire." I gave her a little playful shove and mumbled a 'shut-up'.

I couldn't really tell you what happened the rest of the evening, it was a pretty typical night and when I got home to my itty bitty studio apartment I flopped down onto my bed and stared at the ceiling. This was one of those nights that I wish I had a mom to talk to. I let out a heavy sigh and rolled over to open up the window. I sat up and gazed out the window to the park across the street. I enjoyed people watching in the evenings, it helped keep my mind distracted from my wandering thoughts of growing up. You see, I grew up basically in an orphanage. I mean, yes of course I had a few foster families here and there, but nothing that stuck. I was a shy child and spent most of my time alone, and I guess most people thought of me as a weird outcast. I always had a lot of resentment towards the people that abandoned me growing up. I believed that they realized I was a freak the second I was born and just abandoned me.

When I was eighteen, I got the information from my file, with the intent to find my parents and figure out what happened. When I looked through it, all that was there was birth certificate that the state had made, and a hand written note about what had happened when I was dropped off. I could tell by the handwriting that Mrs. Masen had been the one to write the note. She had been the closest thing I'd had to a mother while in the orphanage. The note indicated that the woman who had dropped me off appeared to be a nurse, but there had been no indication of what hospital she had even worked at. She had been able to provide information about the date and time of my birth, what size I had been, and even my blood type. She had said my name was Isabella Marie, and Mrs. Masen mentioned that it sounded like she had mumbled something about triplets, but when she had left to go handle a 'crisis down the hall' the mysterious woman was gone. So I was left alone in the world with not even a last name.

When I found out that the file was the least helpful thing in the world when it came to finding my family, I asked Mrs. Masen how I had gotten my last name of Swan, hoping that there had been something else that had been missing from my file. Instead I got a silly story of how she had decided that I had already been named beautiful, that I should have a last name to give me grace as well, and that's how she had picked out Swan. Knowing how clumsy I actually am, we both laughed when she told me this story, but I could tell she was being honest with me. I knew that Mrs. Masen loved me, and that deep down, if she could have, she would have adopted me herself.

Despite all that, even now at twenty-two, I still longed for a family. I felt like something was missing from my life. Ever since I'd read that file, I thought of the fact that I might be a triplet, and I wondered what my siblings were like. How nice it would have been to have brothers to look after me growing up, to have sisters to fight and giggle with. I think that's why I enjoyed taking photos so much. Looking at a picture of a happy scene I was able to make little stories to go along with them of the life I never had.

While I was staring out the window that night, that's exactly what I was doing, making up stories to myself of the sights I saw before me. All the cute couples I saw walking by became me and the green-eyed-guy from earlier in various stages of our relationship. This night, instead of being distant memories from my childhood, all the families I saw became my future. I must have fallen asleep doing this because when I woke up in the morning, I had goose bumps across my arms, and there was a damp spot on my bed from where the rain was coming in from the window. I shut the window and began rubbing my hands up and down my arms to chase away the chill.

_So much for the warm weather._ I thought to myself as I turned on the shower, slowly peeling off my clothes from the day before to give the water some time to heat up. After my shower I pulled on some jeans, they were worn at the knees, not quite holey, but getting there, and a plain purple tee-shirt. I pull on a grey hoodie to go over it to stay warm, but leaving it unzipped for now. I stayed barefoot, just like every other day, as I went over to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. I hated wearing shoes and always left them off for as long as possible. I preferred to walk on my toes, which was difficult to do with shoes on, so the balls of my feet had developed nice thick skin, which I was oddly quite proud of.

As I munched on my cereal, I got a text from Angela, reminding me not to go overboard and put on loads of make-up. A smile spread across my face as I began thinking about that guy again. It had slipped my mind as I had gone about with my morning routine and I began to hope that he would come into the coffee shop again today.

**So, what did you think? I'm accepting of reviews of all shapes and sizes, so please let me know how I'm doing. I have a bit more written, but I'm not going to bother posting until I have some kind of response. Why write if no one is interested right? Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.**

**As always, I don't own the characters, just the plot.**

That afternoon, when I got to work, Angie and I were trying to decide what I should do if Mr. Green Eyes came in again. Should I play it cool? Should I pretend that I didn't remember him? Should I try to flirt? That last option had me a bit scared, I was always awkward when it came to the opposite sex, and I didn't really think I had the ability to 'woo' him properly. I was by nature, not a flirty person.

"I mean what are you going to do if he starts flirting with you? You're going to have to respond somehow," Angela said, trying to push my boundaries.

"Yeah and what if he starts flirting with you instead? I mean I really think it's best if I act as if he didn't make that much of an impression on me. I bet he barely remembers me."

"Oh please, with the way he was staring at you? He looked at me to acknowledge my presence, he was practically trying to memorize the way you look. And you don't want to come off as a pretentious bitch right? There's a difference in being cool and talking down to someone."

I let out a sigh, "What difference does it make anyway Angela? I bet he won't even come in."

She rolled her eyes at me and then sighed as well, "I don't like the attitude, but maybe it's best if you don't over think things, and just go with the flow."

"If I go with the flow, I'm gonna say something stupid, you know how half the time I don't think before I speak, it just comes out. But you're right, I'm going to stop obsessing over something that may or may not even happen. No need to get worked up, right?"

"Right," Angela said with a definitive nod of her head, as if to signify the end of discussion. I let out a meek smile.

The afternoon was relatively slow, per usual, and that suited me just fine. I pulled a stool up to the register counter and took out my school work. I was lucky enough to have the state pay for me to take classes at the community college. That was just about the only perk of growing up as a ward of the state. I wasn't able to go to school full time because I still had to pay my other bills, so it had been slow going, taking two classes here and there. The semester was winding down and I had a math final coming up that I was trying to study for. Math had never been a strong suit for me, but I wasn't terrible, so the extra study time was beneficial. I was working on a practice problem that I was finding particularly difficult. The answer was in the back of the book, and as hard as I tried, I just wasn't getting there. I was furiously erasing my latest mistake and growling at the textbook, when I heard a throat clear in front of me.

Of course he would be here now, for who knows how long, watching me struggle. I knocked over my stool as I hastily stood up, trying to clear my work off the counter as quickly as possible. Angela picked up the stool for me, as well as my pencil and papers that had fallen to the floor as well.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in," I blushed, "Were you waiting long?"

"No problem," he smiled, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh, which made me blush harder, "I didn't want to interrupt, you were concentrating so hard."

"I, uh, yeah, I get pretty focused when I'm doing my school work," I stuttered out, "So, um, what can I get for you?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, "You mean you don't know?"

"Huh?" I said baffled. How was I supposed to know what he wanted to order?

"I just thought you would have remembered my order from yesterday," he said, a laugh in his melodious voice, "Afterall, you were so concerned about the temperature."

"Hot black coffee, right," I said nodding my head, grabbing the cup to hand to Angela, and then I paused, "But then again, how was I supposed to know what you wanted? Not everyone gets the same drink everyday." I quickly put my hand to my mouth, I couldn't believe I had said that. I was about to stutter out an apology when he laughed.

"I suppose so. I guess I'm just boring and set in my ways," He smiled at me, and I noticed Angela had taken the cup out of my hand and was pouring his drink at that moment, "How much do I owe you?"

"A dollar seventy nine," I responded, careful not to speak again as he handed me his money.

"So Bella," he started, which caused me to quickly whip my head up and stare at him.

"How do you know my name?" I interrupted, and he just laughed again and pointed at my apron.

"Your nametag silly." I blushed even harder, and stared down at the register as if I was concentrating hard on getting his change properly.

"Oh, I, uh, forgot about that."

"No worries, I'm sure I would be taken aback if a strange called me by name when I wasn't expecting it too," I peeked up through my hair and saw that he was smiling, "But then again are we strangers?"

I tilted my head back up and gave him a quizzical look as I handed him his change, "What do you mean? Besides yesterday I've never met you before."

"Hmmmmm," he said, once again putting his change in the tip jar, "Are you sure? There's something so familiar about you, about your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"Yes, your eyes. When I saw you yesterday, I noticed them instantly. It was like looking at an old friend I hadn't seen in a very long time," He mused, "I've been desperately trying to place where I know you from."

"Oh," I said, surprised, "Well I certainly don't remember your eyes. And I'd like to think they were, they're so vivid and enchanting," Did I just compliment him? "I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think I've ever met you before."

He nodded his head and then stuck his hand out for me to shake, "Well in that case, hi. I'm Edward."

"It's very nice to meet you Edward," I said shaking his hand, "I'm Bella, but you've already figured that out."

"It's a pleasure Bella," He said with a dazzling smile, my heart was racing and I was sure he could hear it's loud beat, "I'm sorry to have startled you and ruined your work."

"Oh it's ok," I said as our fingers slipped apart and our hands dropped to the sides. Chills ran up my spine as I noticed the electricity that had seemed to be between us dissipate, "Actually I appreciate the interruption. That math was getting the best of me," I chuckled a little.

"It did look as if you were going to set that paper on fire if you erased any harder," he grinned at me, "Although I bet with my help you'd have it figured out in no time," He grinned at me again.

"Oh really? Why so cocky sir?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "What makes you think you can get through to me?" I turned and glanced at Angela for a second who was beaming at me, giving me a look that said 'go on'

"Not cocky," he said, "I'm just good with numbers. I work part time at a bank. I swear some days when I close my eyes to go to sleep all I see is numbers dancing around."

"Part time?" I wanted to ask what he did with the rest of his time, but luckily my filter was actually working for once, "I guess I can give you a try." I picked up my book and my notebook and pencil.

"Bella why don't you two take a table and work on that, I can man the register for now?" Angela smiled at me knowingly.

"That's a good idea," Edward said, gesturing to an open table by the window.

"If you're sure Angie," I said looking at her, she nodded for confirmation. I slipped around the counter and headed over to the table that Edward was standing by. He pulled a chair out and gestured for me to sit in it, "Such a gentleman," I said as I sat down.

"Of course, my mother raised me to know how to treat a lady properly." I blushed again and then opened my textbook to the section I had been working on, pushing it across the table to show him, "Oh I know this! Okay, where did you get stuck?" I got out my messy pages of the many attempts at the problem for him to look over. He looked very cute with a furrow in his brow as he looked over my work. "Ahhh I see, here's where you got lost," He said pointing it out. He explained to me what I had done wrong and how to fix it. I took out a clean sheet of paper and started anew, listening to his instruction when I got stuck. We continued like this for a while until I was able to do several problems quickly without any added help.

"Thanks," I said, after we double checked all my answers, "You really are good with numbers. It would have taken me ages without your help."

"It's no problem really," he said waving off my compliment, "I was just born with a natural Math ability," he shrugged, "That's how I ended up at the bank," He sounded less than thrilled about that fact, "I'm happy to help."

"Well I really do appreciate it. Especially since I forced you to look at numbers even longer."

"First time today actually, today's my day off from the bank. I got to actually have fun," he smiled.

"Oh yeah having fun helping me with my math homework," I rolled my eyes, "I'm sure you had much more interesting things to do. For a guy who doesn't seem to like numbers, you do surround yourself with them."

"Well I have no choice really. I need the money, and unfortunately, for the time being, music doesn't do that for me."

"Oh, you're a musician? What do you play?"

"I like to think so, I mean I'm in a band, not that we get to actually play anywhere all that often. I play guitar, piano, and I sing."

"Wow," I said, "That's impressive. I wish I had talent like that."

"I'm sure you do, Bella. I mean I'm sure working here and serving coffee isn't all that you do. You're in school right?"

I nodded my head, "Yeah, but as you can see I'm not great with that either."

"Oh please, math is math, is math. A lot of people aren't good at math, and most people don't even like it. In fact, I don't even like it and I am good at it. Besides the fact that you're in school gives you a one up on me. I quit after I finished high school. And I'm sure you're good at your other subjects."

"I am pretty good with English and creative writing. And my art teacher keeps telling me I'm so talented and to push myself harder," I blushed as I said this. I couldn't believe how I was bragging. I usually never compliment myself. Hell for that matter, I usually never open up to new people like this.

"Oh you're an artist?" He looked amused.

"Kind of," I shrugged, "I like to take pictures."

"Well I.." and then he trailed off as his phone started to ring, "I'm sorry I have to.." and he gestured to his phone as he stood up to take the call in private. I got up myself and stretched, looking over at Angela who was giving me the thumbs up. I closed up my books and put everything in a neat pile as I waited for Edward to get off the phone.

"I'm really sorry," he said coming back towards me, "I didn't realize how late it was. I have to go," I was sad to hear him say that, but I nodded my head in understanding, "But I'll see you around Bella. Right?" He smiled and then I smiled instantly, excited at the thought of seeing him again.

"Of course. Have a good night, Edaward."

"You too," he said giving me a quick hug I didn't even have time to respond too before he was heading out the door, waving a quick goodbye to Angela. I carried my stuff over to the counter as if nothing significant had just happened, and then Angie and I started squealing at the same time.

"And you said you wouldn't be able to flirt with him!" She said grinning at me. I couldn't help but hide my mirrored grin under my hair, as my shy side took over again.

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Memorial Day Everyone!**

**Thanks for the reviews, you guys are so sweet! :)**

**As always, I own the plot, not the characters.**

When I got home that evening I needed to relax, Edward had gotten me all wound up. I sat on the couch and turned on the TV. I flipped through the channels searching for something decent to watch. I ended up settling on some 'How I Met Your Mother' reruns. I don't remember falling asleep, but the next thing I knew I was woken up to the sound of my phone going off. I picked it up of the floor, where it must have fallen at some point while I slept. I looked at it, I had several texts waiting for me, mostly from Jessica.

I was friends with Jessica through Angela. She was far more outgoing and bubbly than Angela. If you got on her bad side she could be a bitch. She wasn't my favorite person to hang out with, but most of the time she wasn't so bad. I didn't mind hanging out with her, but she always pestered me about guys, and who was going out with who, like I knew or cared. All of her texts were about the same thing: Edward. Angela must have mentioned him to her.

_**OMG BELLA! Tell me all about him! Angie told me he was super hott! **_

_**What did u guys talk about? Did u get his #? Did he ask u out?**_

_**Bellllaaa y rn't you answering my txts? I need to know whats going onnnnn**_

_**BELLA! R U with him right now? R U hooking up? Tell me!**_

_**C'mon Im dying, don't leave me hangin u have to tell me **_

_**BELLA rn't we friends NEmore? Don't u luv me NEmore?**_

_**BELLA I HATE U for not txtin me :(**_

I rolled my eyes at her ridiculousness, but I texted her back anyway to get her to leave me alone.

_**Jess, I fell asleep I didn't mean to ignore u. He is GORGEOUS, I didn't get his # and he didn't ask me out. He just helped me w/my math it was no biggie**_

I looked at my other texts, one was from Angie apologizing for telling Jessica, the other one was from Mike, Jess's boyfriend begging me to text her back because she was driving him crazy. I couldn't help but laugh. I texted Angela saying it was ok, and I didn't respond to Mike, I was sure he'd figure out on his own.

After I sent the messages, I got up to pee. My stomach started to growl. I looked at the clock and frowned. I usually ate at work, but I had been too excited to even think of it. I decided it wouldn't hurt if I ate something small before I went to bed officially. I got out the bread and the cheese and began heating up a pan on the stove. I noticed that my phone was blinking on the counter. I picked it up, another text from Jess.

_**He helped u with ur math homework? C'mon Bella there has to be more to it than that. A total big deal, u never talk to guys!**_

I responded quickly: _**He told me he was a musician and we talked about school, it was really no big deal**_

I started making my grilled cheese, and poured myself a small glass of milk. I realized I hadn't turned the TV off yet so I went and shut it off. I turned over my sandwich; the first side was golden brown. I got out my lunchbox and started putting together my lunch for the next day. Tuesday and Thursday mornings I had my classes and I always stayed on campus a little while longer to work on my homework. I would eat my lunch and make sure I understood the material so that if I had any questions I could go to my professor. I checked on my grilled cheese and decided it was done. I slid it onto a plate and after putting my lunch in the fridge, I grabbed the book I was reading, _As I Lay Dying_, and read while I ate. When I finished dinner I cleaned up and brought my book over to my bed. Checking my phone I noticed Jess had texted me again, but I ignored it. I made sure that my alarm was set and got into my PJs. I slipped into bed and resumed reading. The book was interesting, but Faulkner was not an easy read. I was enjoying it, but it just didn't have the same effect as my romance novels did. Those I got swept away in. I kept reading until I could barely hold my eyes open anymore.

My classes went well the next morning. Thanks to Edward's help I really understood the material we were reviewing in Math. I wish I had his number so I could text him to let him know and say thank you again. Maybe next time I saw him I would be brave enough to ask him for it, but probably not. It was actually a nice day out, so I sat on a picnic bench outside to eat my lunch. It wasn't as warm as it had been on Tuesday, but the sun felt good on my skin. I closed my eyes, leaning back, basking in the warmth. My stomach began to growl, I cursed it silently and got my lunchbox out of my bag. I also took out my notebook, determined to start working on my creative writing final. We had to choose two different prompts from a list of five and write two different short stories. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but lately I just wasn't feeling creative. I took a large bite out of my apple and read over the prompts again. Some of them were very simple, encouraging us to take on much more creativity, others were more in depth forcing us to take a complex idea that we didn't have and make it our own. The in depth ones were making my head swim, so I settled on the simple 'A card game' prompt.

I wasn't having luck settling on a situation in which people would be playing cards, ideas as wild as Vegas, and a simple as family game night were swirling through my brain. I decided that maybe I should come up with the characters first and then decide what situation they would be in. Unfortunately each character I tried to come up with ended up in some way or another being Edward. I let out a frustrated sigh and threw my pen across the table.

"Having trouble?" asked a beautiful blonde woman I had never seen before. She was standing in front of the table where I had just thrown my pen. I just nodded my head as I looked at her. Her golden hair was wavy and came down to the middle of her waist. She had curves in all the right places, and her face looked like it had been made out of smooth porcelain, however she was not that pale. She wasn't particularly tan at all, not that anyone could get tan in the Pacific Northwest, but it she had a soft glow to her. Her lips were a perfect shade of pink and were so full and soft that even I wanted to kiss her, and I had never had any interest in women before.

"Mind if I sit down?" she asked, gesturing to the bench across from me.

"Sure no problem," I said, pulling my stuff towards me, as it had somehow taken over most of the table, "Don't mind my mess, I've been a little preoccupied today."

"No problem," she said with a smile, "I was just waiting for my boyfriend. He was supposed to meet me at the café across the street for lunch, but he's running late. I got tired of standing there so I thought I'd come sit here."

I nodded my head, unsure of what to say in response to that, cursing myself for people so socially awkward.

"I'm Rosalie by the way," she said sticking her hand out in my direction, "but you can call me Rose."

"Bella," I said shaking her hand, "Nice to meet you," I added.

"It's nice to meet you too Bella. If you don't mind me asking, what has you so preoccupied?" she asked cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Oh well, it's just this guy I met," I said with a blush, "I just can't get him out of my head."

Rose let out a little chuckle, "So be bold! Call him, it is the twenty first century after all. Women can be the one to make the first move."

"I don't even has his number," I sighed, "And even if I did I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to even do anything with it."

"Hmmm," she said tapping her chin, "Well do you know when you're going to see him again?"

"No," I frowned, "He came into the coffee shop I work at for the past two days, and yesterday we sat and he helped me with my Math and we talked for a while."

"What a meet cute!" She exclaimed, "But that is a bit of a conundrum. I'm surprised he didn't give you his number or ask you out. Did you at least get his name?"

"Yeah, his name is Edward. He had gotten a phone call and ended up having to leave suddenly." As if on cue, just then Rose's phone began to ring, she looked at it and then gave me a sheepish look.

"I'm sorry," she said to me before answering her phone. I nodded my head at her, and then got back to my lunch, I didn't want to invade her privacy. I nibbled on my sandwich and opened up my water bottle, taking a sip. I grabbed my own phone out of my bag to check the time, I didn't want to be late for work.

"What an idiot," Rose said to me rolling her eyes, "My boyfriend went to the wrong restaurant and he doesn't have a very long break, so I've got to go. I don't mean to sound too pushy, but what coffee shop do you work at? I'm great with guys and I'd love to help you with you problem. Maybe I can stop by this weekend and we can figure Edward out."

"Oh, I work at Java Juice, it's on James St., near Broadway. And uh, thanks." I said with a meek smile, "Have a good lunch."

"Java Juice, got it," She said with a smile, "I'll be seeing you soon Bella." And she waved as she walked off.

I gave up on trying to get any work done and packed my stuff up. I sat there quietly finishing my lunch. I checked the time again, grateful that I had enough time to swing by the park before lunch. I hopped on my bike and rode to the park. It was a great place to people watch and take pictures, which I happily did this afternoon. When it was time for me to leave for work, I took my time. I worked with Eric on Thursdays, but today I wished it was Angela. I wanted to tell her about Rose. It wasn't that I didn't like Eric, actually we were friends, but it's just not the same as Angela. She had been my best friend for years and she understood me better than anyone else. Eric was friends with Ben, Angela's boyfriend, though we knew him longer from the coffee shop.

When I got to Java Juice, I stored my stuff in my cubby and put on my apron. Things started off relatively quietly, Eric joked with me about my new 'boyfriend', but I could tell that he was actually happy for me. After I had been there about an hour Jess showed up.

"Did I miss him? Has he come in yet?"

"Why hello to you too Jess, I'm doing fine thanks for asking." She rolled her eyes at me.

"I'm serious woman, was he here? I need to see him for myself."

"No he hasn't come in yet. I don't even know if he is going to show up at all."

"Well I'm just going to wait here until he does."

"Okay, crazy pants, you do what you want. But don't blame me when he doesn't show and you sat here all day for nothing." She huffed and waved me off, sitting down at the table nearest to the register.

"Can you get me an iced caramel macchiato?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at me.

"If you pay for it."

"Ugg fine," she said getting back up again, handing me a five, "Make it a big one."

Eric and I just laughed at her, but he made her drink and I gave her change to her. When she sat back down , Eric pulled me to the side and whispered in my ear.

"Is it bad that I hope he comes in today too?" I shot him a questioning look, "What? I'm curious! Actually I kind of hope she gives up and leaves and then he comes in so I can see him before her. She would be so mad and that would be hilarious!" I giggled a little and then hit him on the side.

"You're mean," I said, walking back over to the register as some of our regulars come in the door.

For some reason we ended being ungodly busy that afternoon and evening, a fact that upset Jessica greatly. I ended up having to work double duty, working the register and getting the regular coffee and pasty orders while Eric made the more complicated drinks. Jess kept complaining that she was bored and that it was my job to keep her entertained. I rolled my eyes at her and told her that she didn't have to stay here, but she was instant that she had to stay to see him. Unfortunately Edward never showed. I was sad I didn't get to see him, but I was secretly grateful he didn't see me rushing around like a hot mess, and that he didn't have to endure Jess. Eric and I ended up having to kick her out, it was getting late and she was grating on both of our nerves.

"C'mon Jess, it's almost closing time, he's not coming and you have to leave."

"Fine," she sighed, "I can't believe I wasted my whole day here." I held back an 'I told you so' wanting her to get out as quickly as possible. Eric and I closed up shop and cleaned everything up fairly quickly, which I was grateful for. We hadn't had time for me to get a break and my stomach was growling. I rode home quickly. I made up a big salad with some left over grilled chicken for dinner, which I ate while watching _The Wizard of Oz_ on TV. When the movie went off, I cleaned up from my dinner, and went to bed, worn out from the day. _I'm so glad I have the day off tomorrow._ I thought to myself, falling asleep thinking of all the things I might do with my free time.

**Thanks for reading! Any and all reviews are always welcome :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyone who has been adding me and my story to your favorites list. I feel so loved. For those of you who take the time to review, thank you times two. I'm glad to know you're enjoying my story so much :) Special thank you to BellaAngelin for consistently reviewing every chapter, you're the reason I post so frequently.**

**Stephanie Meyer created the characters, I'm just using them as puppets.**

I woke up around nine that Friday morning with the sun on my face. I let out a sleepy early morning moan and stretched out my whole body, all the way down to the tips of my toes. I sat up and looked out the window, it was a cloudy, but not completely overcast. It had clearly rained earlier, and I wouldn't be surprised if it rained again, but it did not look like there would be a storm. I couldn't help but smile; I love days like this. I got up to pee and laughed when I saw myself in the bathroom mirror. I was a mess, my hair was a big poof, sticking out every which way, there was sleep still in my eyes, and the tee shirt I had worn to bed was somehow crooked across my body. I didn't even bother to straighten myself out, I just went into the kitchen to get my breakfast ready. I grabbed my book and sat reading while I ate. I took my time and when I was done I got into the shower. I enjoyed the warm water washing over my body and the scent of my strawberry shampoo overtook my senses. So far this had been the most relaxing morning I'd had in a long time. My day was off to a great start.

I put on a light blue long sleeve scoopneck and a slightly darker shade of skinny jeans. I threw my hair up in a ponytail to get it out of my way. I walked over to my desk and sat down, turning my laptop on, tapping my foot as I waited for it to come to life. I checked my email and my bank account and then spent some time on Facebook. When I was done I got up and went to the kitchen, making a shopping list of what I would need for the next week. I got my shopping bags, a bottle of water, and a jacket, just in case. I put on my purple chucks and I was out the door. I rode over to Pike Place, smiling and waving at people I knew along the way.I locked my bike up on the rack and began wandering around. I loved coming to Pike Place when it wasn't swarming with tourists. It is something I look forward to each week, which is strange because I'm not a 'Let's go shopping!' kind of girl. I had a bit of a schedule each time I came here. I always went to the craft and gift stores first. I enjoyed seeing what was new each week, as well a visiting some things that I loved, but could never afford.

I looked at all the homemade soaps, smelling some of my particular favorite scents. I stared longingly at some of the glass crafts, knowing it was not wise for me to touch them. I let my fingers graze over some of the handcrafted wooden furniture, taking a moment to sit in my favorite rocking chair. Most of the people who worked in the shops recognized me, some even knew me by name. I would frequently get a greeting, or a wave. Once in a while I would get shown something new or special that they thought I would enjoy. I would get free samples of things here and there, once at the pottery shop I had even gotten a beautiful mug just because it had gotten a chip in it and they couldn't sell it. Somehow coming to Pike Place felt like home, while at the same time being almost a vacation for me. Other than the occasional depression that came after looking at a price tag, it took me away from my reality for a few hours.

My second to last stop before I went to go buy food was in the photography shop. There were several absolutely amazing cameras there that I coveted, and the walls were covered in beautiful prints of local photographers. I hoped one day my work would be good enough to be in one of those frames. Sometimes the photographers would have displays, like a miniature art show, and they would be in the shop themselves to present their work. Of the handful I'd met, most of them were quiet pleasant and encouraged me to showcase my own work, but there were also a few assholes who would criticize without a second thought. The people who ran the store were nice, they gave me a great deal when my lens had cracked and I needed a replacement, and they always let me know when there were events going on or if there were any jobs available where I'd be able to fit the bill. There was nothing new in there this week, and the only employee in the store was busy with a customer, so I didn't spend much time in there. I took a moment to stare longingly at the vintage camera I desired, promising it, as I did every week, that when I was rich and famous I would come back for it, and then I was off.

The final stop of my window shopping tour was the record store. I adored old music, and loved the way it sounded when played by record. Angela would tease me about this, saying that I had such an old soul it was effecting my hearing. She didn't understand the beauty of listening to music the way it had originally been recorded, how it was somehow more raw and meaningful, but she humored me anyway. One year for my birthday, she had gotten together all of our friends and they all chipped in and got me a really nice record player, that was able to not only play the music, but convert it to be copied onto a computer. It had been the best present I'd ever gotten and was one of my most prized possessions. I always ended up spending quite a long time in the shop, as I would look at just about every vinyl they had, even though there wasn't much turn over week to week. You couldn't be too careful, you didn't want to miss out on a rare find.

When I started out in the row I was in, I realized that there was someone else on the other end, who appeared to be doing the same thing I was, but in a different order. I silently cursed them, knowing that we would eventually cross paths and be in each other's way. I made it all the way to Lynyrd Skynyrd before we bumped into each other. Literally. We had both taken a step to the side at the same time, colliding into one another.

"Oh I'm sorry!" We both said at the same time. I recognized the voice before I even saw his face; it was Edward. I got tingly all over.

"Bella! Hi! What are you doing here?"

"Uh, same thing you are, I guess. Checking out the records. I come here every week."

"Really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, but his voice sounded kind of excited, "Most people don't really care about vinyl anymore."

"Oh, I know, my friends make fun of me for listening to records all the time, but I love it. Nothing compares to the sound, you can't beat it," I responded, grinning like a fool, "Something about it just feels right, you know?"

"I know exactly what you're talking about, I feel the same way! It's like you're more in touch with the music, you really hear the musician's voice so to speak," a large crooked smile crossed his face as he spoke, and I couldn't help but reflect it myself.

"Definitely, it's so much more personal that the synthesized crap that's out now. I mean, don't get me wrong some of the music that's out now is great, and I enjoy the occasional pop song myself, but it's just not as meaningful," He nodded his head deeply at what I was saying.

"Oh yeah, and don't get me started on the lyrics," he chuckled. We ended up walking around the store, discussing music, the purpose of drug use through the ages, and the huge generational differences that we wished hadn't changed so much. We were having such a deep and passionate conversation, that I didn't even mind the complete lack of pattern our wandering had taken on, and that my structure was long gone. We lost track of time, and it wasn't until my stomach growled that I even thought of looking at a clock. Both our heads turned at the same time to the old clock on the back wall.

"Geez, after two already," he said shaking his head.

"I know, I can't believe it got so late."

"Well I can tell you're hungry, and I'm actually pretty hungry myself," he said, "want to go get lunch with me?"

"Sure, what'd you have in mind?" My heart was beating so loud I was sure the shoppers walking past the store could hear it. I was so excited that I was practically shaking.

"How about the Market Grill?"

"Sounds good," I nodded my head, gesturing with one hand for him to lead the way. He just laughed at me and instead put his hand in mine.

"I am not some Neanderthal who forces a woman to follow behind him, I know how to treat a lady properly," He beamed at me, and I blushed deeply.

"Well that's a very good thing to know. It's always nice to be with a gentleman," I said, the electric surge between us energizing me. It took all I had in me to not grab hold of him and press his body against mine. We walked over to the restaurant and were seated promptly. There were very few people in the restaurant, so we had a great deal of privacy.

"So Bella," Edward began, as we looked over the menu, "we'll have to compare record collections some time."

"Oh please," I snorted, "I'm sure yours is much more impressive than mine. I've only been collecting for a few years, and it's usually a splurge when I get a new one."

"Hey now," he scolded, "that doesn't make any difference. If anything, I would say that means that you care more about quality than just buying up any old record off the shelf."

I shrugged, "I guess so. I think it also means I'm broke," I laughed, and he rolled his eyes at me.

"Well maybe you should just take it as a compliment," he said wiggling his eyebrows at me. I giggled and blushed again, grateful when the waitress came over to get our order and diffuse the building awkwardness. We continued chatting on as we waited for our meals, he told me about how long and boring his day at work had been yesterday, and I told him how swamped I had been myself, leaving out the part about Jessica sitting there all day, attempting to stalk him. We both shared our love for having Fridays off and our favorite places in Pike Place.

It was while we were eating that I remembered to thank him again, "Oh!" I said suddenly interrupting him entirely as he asked me about my classes, "I meant to say thank you again for all your help with my math. I was able to understand what was going on in class during the review."

"It was really no problem," he chuckled, "I'm glad you understand it now."

When the bill came he insisted on paying it, although I was quite demanding that we split it. He slid his credit card into the leather folder and handed it to the waitress.

"There, now it's done and you have no choice but to accept it," he smirked at me.

"Well at least let me get the tip," I said. He hemmed and hawed over it and then agreed.

"Oh by the way, if you're not busy tonight, you should come see my band play. It's just a short twenty minute set, we're the openers," He said, I could see a hint of a blush under his cheeks, but nowhere near my level.

"Oh yeah, that'd be great! I'd love too!" I grinned, and his face lit up like Christmas morning, "Where is it?"

"Sully's tavern," he said, "Here, let me give you my number in case you get lost." He scribbled the digits down on a napkin and slid it across the table to me.

I don't think I could have been any happier at that moment than I already was. I was holding back a squeal of joy, waiting for the moment I could call Angie and tell her the good news.

**Exciting stuff right? As always, thank you for reading and reviews are highly encouraged.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to those who have reviewed and all the continued adding of me/my story to your favorites/alerts.**

**Unfortunately I still don't own the characters, just the plot, of which I make no money off of.**

Edward had to leave after lunch, and he actually apologized for taking up my time I had meant to spent grocery shopping. I assured him that I had enjoyed it, and told him not to worry. He told me he was happy I was coming to his show tonight, and I told him I was excited. He told me to feel free to bring a friend if I wanted, and then reminded me to call him if I got lost. He gave me a hug and left with a wave, heading in the opposite direction. I was so ecstatic, my head was swimming.

_Ohhh I have to call Angie! Maybe she'll come with me. Oh wait, it's date night for her and Ben tonight. Maybe I'll ask Jess to come, although I'm not sure I really want her there. Actually maybe this is the weekend she and Mike were going on their romantic getaway anyway. Hmmm I could have Eric come with me, but it's just not the same as one of the girls. I wish I had the Rose girls number, she would know what to do, I bet she would come with me. Wait, what am I thinking she's gorgeous and has a boyfriend, I'm sure she has better stuff to do on a Friday night even if I did have her number. Ugggg! Bella get a hold of yourself! One step at a time, call Angie and we'll work this out. Wait! No! Don't call Angie, she's at work still. Text her, do your shopping, and ride over there. You can put your groceries in the cooler while you come up with a plan. Yes. Ok. Good idea._

I clearly was going to drive myself crazy. I shook my head, trying to snap myself out of it, and texted Angie.

**I really have 2 tlk 2 u, I'm stopping by when I'm done shopping**

I went through the stores quickly, grabbing what I needed, not spending any time as I usually might chatting with the employees. When I got to my bike, I secured the bags tightly in my box and rode over to Java Juice as quickly as I could. I fumbled locking my bike back up, and grabbed my bags, heading inside.

"What is going on?" Angela yelled at me as I walked through the door, rushing over to me, "You sent me this cryptic text and then nothing, leaving me to go crazy waiting!"

"Edward," I said simply brushing past her as she stopped in her tracks, putting my refrigerated goods in the cooler, leaving the bag of nonperishables just behind the counter.

"What about him?" she asked, rounding on me, staring down at me, "What happened? Did you see him again? I assume he didn't come in yesterday…"

"Yes, at Pike Place, I bumped into him. Literally. He took me to lunch, asked me to come watch his band play tonight, and gave me his number," I practically squeed, "He said I could bring a friend, but I know tonight is date night…."

"Bella you klutz! You're the only one I know who could knock into someone and get a date out of it. You have to tell me more details. And screw date night, Ben can come with us, this is more important," Angela said very firmly, her arms folded across her chest, sitting me down at the table nearest the counter. I just looked up at her dumbfounded, "Well? Details!"

"Oh well, I was in the record store, going down the row checking out all the albums, he was on the other side and eventually we just bumped into each other in the middle. We talked for a long time just wandering around the store."

Angie snorted, "You would find a guy who likes the same crazy old stuff you do."

I ignored her and continued, "We talked about music, and records, and drugs, and how different our generation is now and what we wish had stayed the same, and it was just incredible. We were talking in that store for like two hours."

"Bella, hun, I love you, but you're crazy," She shook her head at me, "Did you say you talked about drugs? He must really like you to be on about that nonsense for so long."

"Yes, we talked about drug use and how back in the 60s people used drugs to expand their minds, and how now people use drugs just to get high and it has no meaning anymore. And he's just an old soul like me!" I defended.

"Bella, drug use never had meaning. It was _always_ about the high. What do you think that 'mind expanding' was?" She used air quotes on that one, and I just rolled my eyes at her.

"You just don't get it. Anyway," I said, before getting interrupted.

"Yes, continue on, I'm sorry to criticize."

"Anyway," I said a little louder, but nodded my head at her apology, "my stomach started growling, and we realized how late it was and he asked me to go to lunch with him. We went to the Market Gril, OH and he held my hand on the way there," I blushed, and Angela let out a bit of a squeal, causing some people to look at her briefly, "He said he wanted to compare record collections some time. And we talked about work and school, and he was just so nice. And he insisted on paying for lunch, even though I told him we should split it, but he did let me pay the tip. Then he asked me if I wanted to come see his band play, and gave me his number so I could call him if I got lost. He told me I could bring a friend, said he was happy I was coming, gave me a hug, and then we parted ways."

"Aww," Angela sighed, "that's such a cute first date."

"It was not a date! I mean we barely know each other," I said blushing furiously.

"Bella, there is no need to get so defensive. Besides, what do you think dating is? It's how people get to know each other. And it most certainly was a date. He held your hand, paid for your meal, asked you out again, and gave you his number. The only other thing he could have possibly done was kiss you instead of that hug. It was just an unplanned coincidental kind of date."

I let out a strangled sort of 'uggg' and put my head on the table, Angela's words sinking into my head. It was highly likely that she was in fact correct. _Why am I also so oblivious?_

"So what are you going to wear tonight?" She asked.

I groaned, I was entirely fashion illiterate and really just wanted to be comfortable all the time, "I don't know Angie, what should I wear?" I asked, turning my head to face her, while still resting it on the table.

"Hmmm," she said, "Well where is this show?"

"Sully's Tavern."

"Ok, good, you can pull off comfy, I know how important that is to you," she said giving me a knowing look, that I just nodded my head at, "You can keep those jeans, swap out the chucks for boots, and a nicer top. We don't have to go overboard, since it's just at a pub. Luckily, you still don't need make-up."

"That's not so bad," I said, "You'll come over to help right?"

"Of course, when I get off, I'll go home to change and head right over. That reminds me I need to text Ben, do you want him to pick us up, or should he just meet us there?"

"Um, can he pick us up?"

"Of course," she beamed, taking her phone out of her pocket and texting him, "You go home and put that stuff away and relax a little. And maybe text Jess."

I simply nodded my head and sighed. I got my bags and headed out the door, calling a goodbye out over my shoulder. During the ride home I tried to concentrate just on where I was going instead of letting my thoughts wander as I usually did. There was no need for me to make myself anxious. I wished I hadn't showered this morning just so I would have something to do while I waited for Angela. I didn't really want to text Jess, she was such a drama queen and would blow everything out of proportion. Then again maybe I did want to text her so that she would hear it from me instead of someone else. That way at least I knew she started out with the truth. After I put away my groceries, I sat down on the couch and got out my phone.

**Guess who I ran into today :)**

I had only just picked up my book off the coffee table before my phone went off.

**OMG no way! What happened? **

**We bumped into each other at Pike Place, he ended up buying me lunch, giving me his # and inviting me to come see his band play 2nite**

I wasn't foolhardy enough to even bother opening my book yet.

**OMG that's so awesome! What r u gonna wear? U better look hot**

**Skinny jeans, boots, haven't decided on the top yet. Angie's coming over to help me later**

I didn't bother to mention that she and Ben were coming with me. God knows how jealous Jess would be if she knew.

**U better have some cleavage, gotta show off ;)**

I rolled my eyes. _Like I have much to show off._ My boobs weren't small, but they were certainly not anything special. Besides, I didn't want to look too slutty. My phone went off again before I had even responded to Jess.

**R u gonna kiss him?**

**IDK Jess, maybe? It depends on how the night goes**

_If it feels right I will._ I did want to kiss him, that's something I wouldn't deny, but I was more of a go with the flow kinda girl. I hated it when girls had all sorts of rules and guidelines when it came to guys. No second date rule, in fact no planning at all. However, it was something I was a bit nervous about. I didn't have much experience with the dating world. Of course I'd kissed a few guys, I'd even had sex, but I was very conscious of who I did what with. Jess called me a prude, but I liked to think of myself as selective.

**U have to txt me everything idc how late it is when u get home, unless you don't go home alone, then I can wait til morning ;)**

**Oh plz, u & I both know that's not happening**

**U prolly right but u never know ;)**

**OK jess u'll be the 1****st**** to know if I do**

**LOL ok have fun 2nite!**

**Tnx have fun w/mike this weekend :)**

Deciding it was finally safe to start reading, I took my bookmark out and picked up where I had left off. I had barely just finished the book when Angela was buzzing to be let in. By the time she got up to my apartment I had already unlocked the door, and was standing at my open closet, staring at it as if I were waiting for something to pop out at me.

"It's a good thing you only have to change your shirt and put on those boots because we don't have a ton of time. Ben is picking us up at 6:30," Angela said sliding the hangers along, stopping to look at the occasional top. She took a couple of them out and held them up to me, shook her head and put them back into the closet.

"I'm assuming you don't want to go through my dresser," I gestured to it, "Most of what's in there is tee-shirts."

"You assumed correctly," she said taking out a turquoise V-neck, which finally earned her nod of approval, "Put that on."

The shirt was rayon, but had a thin cotton lining, which I was grateful for. The V didn't dip down too low, but gave just a tiny hint of cleavage. There was some very light beading on the V, but nothing to flashy, just enough to catch the light. The sleeves went down to almost my elbows, which was good because I didn't think Angela would consider me having even a nice jacket on over it a good idea.

"Do you have a push-up bra?" she mused looking at me, "Don't get me wrong you look great just the way you are, but the added umph would be a nice touch." I simply nodded my head and retrieved it out of my dresser, taking the shirt off again and switching bras. When I was done Angela beamed, "Excellent. Go look in the mirror."

I silently obeyed, and she was right, I did look great, "Angie this is perfect!" I praised as I was coming out of the bathroom, "I don't even remember where or when I got this."

"Well I'm glad you did," She said, her phone ringing in her pocket, "That'll be Ben," she took it out and answered it, asking if he was here. I assume he said yes because she told him we'd be right down. I sat down on one of my kitchen chairs to pull on my boots and grabbed my small clutch which I had put my wallet and phone in just before Angela got here. I locked up and we went down.

"Hi Ben!" I said as I got into the back seat of his blue Prius, "Thanks for coming tonight. And thanks for driving."

"No problem Bella," he said with a smile, heading down the road after we both buckled ourselves in, "I'm actually really looking forward to it."

It took us fifteen minutes to get there, and I was grateful we got there early, there was a small line forming at the door.

"I wonder how long we're going to have to wait," I mused, wishing I'd asked when the doors opened.

"I hope it's not too long I'm hungry," Ben grumbled.

"Can you text Edward and ask him if he knows when we can get in?" Angela asked.

"Uh, I guess," I said with a blush. I took my phone out of my purse, along with the napkin he had scribbled on early in the day.

"Bella, don't tell me you haven't even programed his number in your phone yet," Angela said, chastising me, "It's not like there's anything to be embarrassed about. He would have no idea if you hadn't done it right away or not."

"I know," I sighed, "I guess it just made even so real, and the thought of it made me nervous."

"You're a silly girl sometimes Bella," Ben said, which did actually make me blush.

"I know I don't always make the most sense," I said, "I don't even get it sometimes." I had managed to save his number while we were talking and opened up the next text to him.

**Hi it's Bella. Not lost, just wondering when we'd be able to get in.**

"What'd you say?" Angela asked, so I told her, "Good," she nodded her head as if to give a seal of approval. Ben rolled his eyes.

"Did you guys do this when we first started dating?" He asked.

"Yes," I answered, "But Angie wasn't as pathetic." He shook his head at us.

"You are not pathetic," Angela retorted, "You're just shy. Plus you seem to really like this guy, which makes everything all that more nerve wrecking," She stared at Ben as if to dare him to make any other comments. My phone vibrated and I looked at it.

**You're here now? Doors should be opening soon, but I'll see if I can get you in early.**

**Yeah, we just got here. There are a few people waiting by the door.**

"What's the verdict?" Ben asked.

"He's checking to see if he can get us in early," I said with a smile.

"Ohhh fancy dancy man, pulling strings to get us in before everyone else," Angela teased, giggling, "I like it."

Ben laughed, "I like it too, if it leads to food."

"I don't remember him being so hungry," I said to Angela, "Is he always like this when you go out on dates?" Ben stuck his tongue out at me, and I was tempted to return the favor.

"He can get whiney when he's hungry and has to wait, but that doesn't usually happen until later in the evening."

"Hey I had to take an early lunch break, we had an afternoon meeting," Ben retorted, "I can't help it."

"Bella!" a voice called from behind us. I whipped around, my hair flying up in Ben's face, which he promptly spit out. Edward came around the corner of the building, clearly looking for us.

"That's the guy?" I heard Ben whisper to Angie. I can only assume she nodded in response because I didn't hear her reply.

"Edward!" I called back, waving as a few people had queued up behind us. He smiled and jogged over to us.

"Hi," he smiled at us, "Glad you could make it."

"Glad to come," I said, "You remember Angie, from the coffee shop? This is her boyfriend Ben."

"Nice to meet you," Edward said shaking Ben's hand, "Thanks for coming."

"No problem," Angie said, "It sounded like fun," she smiled.

"Well, c'mon this way," Edward gestured to the way he had come, "We can get in the back."

He offered me his hand yet again, which I gladly took. Angela and Ben followed in suit and we went around the corner to the back door which was propped open. We walked past the bathrooms and what I assumed was a sort of broom closet to the bar against the back wall. I was surprised at all the space there was inside, it hadn't looked quite this large from outside. There was a small stage that was up against the front wall. There were clusters of round tables that seated four spread out across the floor as well as seats at the bar. I noticed a staircase against the right wall and when I looked up I noticed a small balcony that I assumed had more tables.

"I reserved you guys a table," he said walking us over to it. It was on the edge of one of the clusters, almost in the middle of the room, there was a clear view of the stage and an easy path to the bathroom and the bar, "These tables," he gestured to the two next to us, "Are reserved for us too. The guy's girlfriends should be here soon too."

"Edward!" a blonde guy called from a doorway I hadn't noticed, underneath the staircase.

"Oh, I've got to go, but I'll see you after our set!" He jogged over to the door, looking over his shoulder at us before he disappeared.

As soon as he was gone a waitress came to give us menus and take our drink orders. We looked over the menus and it was quiet, except for Ben's occasional soft muttering as he attempted to decide what we wanted. The waitress came back with our drinks and took our orders.

"So Bella, what kind of music does your boyfriend play?" Ben asked.

"Ignoring that. And I have no idea. Rock I assume," I shrugged. I hadn't even thought to ask.

"Well do you know who they're opening for?" He tried.

"Not a clue. No wait," I said as I noticed a poster on the wall, "Lockjaw, according to that poster." I pointed.

"Oh I've heard of them," Ben and Angela said at the same time. They smiled at one another and gave each other a quick peck.

"I've never heard their music, but Jack, a guy I work with," he added noting my confused expression, "said they were good." We both turned to look at Angela to see what she knew of them.

"I think I might of heard one of their songs once, but I can't be sure," she shrugged.

"Actually I think I've seen posters for the shows around before. Although that doesn't really say anything," I added.

"Hopefully Jack is right," Ben said, "He has pretty good taste in music most of the time. Actually he might be here tonight. It wouldn't surprise me."

People began shuffling into the pub, not even giving our presence a second glance. I took a look at the clock, it was just after seven. Less than an hour before the show starts. My excitement began to build.

"Geez we haven't been in here that long; we could have just waited outside," Angela said.

"Who knew," I shrugged.

"Well now we get our dinner sooner!" Ben said excitedly. We both laughed at him.

"I guess it's a good thing I texted Edward anyway. We didn't know about the table."

"True," said Angela, "We wouldn't have even come over this way. From the looks of it, I'm glad we got here when we did, even if there was a table reserved for us."

"Yeah, it's filling up pretty fast," Ben agreed.

"Everyone must have just gotten here. There weren't that many people outside when we came in," I added, "Lockjaw must be pretty popular." They both nodded in agreement.

"Oh hey, did you text Jess?" Angie asked.

"I sure did. She would have murdered one of us if she knew she didn't find out right away." Angela giggled and Ben rolled his eyes. Angela opened her mouth to respond, but our waitress came with our food.

We sat, eating quietly, mostly listening to the excited prattle around us. We commented occasionally on some of the things we heard, speculating about what the night would be like. When we finished our meals I excused myself to use the restroom and by the time I got out, it was time for the show to start. I had missed the band walking out to get to the stage, when I sat down, Angela leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"He was looking for you." The words sent shivers down my spine. I looked up at the stage where Edward was standing and got butterflies in my stomach. His eyes met mine and a grin spread across his face. Angela nudged me.

A man, who I assumed was the manager of the pub was up on stage making some kind of announcement. I didn't catch what he was saying until, "A now our opening act, New Moon!" The announcement was met with a mixture of applause and a few hoots and hollers. He stepped off the stage and a dark skinned guy in a tight black tee-shirt stepped up to the mic.

"Hey everybody thanks for coming out tonight," He said and some chick a few tables in front of us shouted something about wanting to come for him every night. He just laughed and continued on, "I'm Jacob Black, this is Jasper," he gestured to the blonde bassist on his left, "And Edward Cullen," on his right with his guitar, "On the drums we have Seth Clearwater," he turned and gestured back at a younger looking kid who also had dark skin and hair, like Jacob, "And as Sully said, we are New Moon. We're here tonight to play you some music," more hoots from the audience with some added whistling, "Hope you enjoy." And then Edward burst out with some sweet sounding guitar. The concert had begun.

**Sorry to leave you guys with that one. I know it's not quite a cliff hanger, but still. I'm hoping to have another chapter out later today, although I imagine it'll be shorter.**

**Thanks for reading! And of course, I do appreciate a good review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**New Chapter as promised. Continued to thanks to all the people that keep adding my story to their favorites/alert list.**

**I only own the plot.**

New Moon was surprisingly good. They had an old school, Cream-eque vibe with intricate lyrics. I wish I could whistle, my hands were getting sore from clapping so much. I noticed after the second song a couple of girls had sat at the table next to us. One of them was dark skinned, much like Jacob and Seth. She had short black hair in a bob and dark eyes. The other girl had light brown hair with natural looking caramel colored highlights. She looked younger than the darker skinned girl, and I noticed a paper bracelet around her wrist. I couldn't read it, but I guess that it was an 'under 21' bracelet from the bar. I couldn't be sure, but my guess was she was Seth's girlfriend. From what I could tell, he was fairly young himself.

Their set was only five songs long, and it ended much too soon. I had really been enjoying myself and wanted them to continue playing, but I knew most people hadn't come to see them. I could tell by the idle chatter going on that as good as New Moon was, the audience was getting anxious to hear Lockjaw.

"Again, we are New Moon, thanks for letting us play. You guys have been a great audience!" Jacob called out into the crowd. Sully popped back on stage as the guys stepped off stage.

"Another round of applause for our opening act, New Moon!" to which the audience complied, "Now folks, we'll have a brief intermission as we set up for our next act, the main attraction, Lockjaw!" The applause was more enthusiastic for that, but it didn't look like the boys minded. They came over to our tables, Jacob kissing the dark skinned girl, the younger one getting up and hugging Seth, kissing on the cheek.

"Jasper, where's Alice? I thought she was going to be here," Jacob's girlfriend asked.

"Oh, she was supposed to be here, but she's been sick all day," He said sounding kind of sad, "I think she got Emmett's bug."

"That's too bad," the other girl said, "I like Alice, I was looking forward to seeing her."

Edward had come beside me, but I hadn't noticed, so when he spoke I let out a startled scream and tipped over into Angela.

"Geez, all I said was hi!" he laughed, "I didn't know I had such an effect on you," He winked at me, as I sat up. His bandmates were laughing and everyone was staring at me.

"You just scared me is all," I said straightening my shirt, "I didn't realize you were right there."

"Uh huh," he nodded a me, laughter still etched on his face, "Guys this is Bella, and her friends Angela and Ben."

"So this is the girl you can't shut up about?" Jasper asked coming over to me, and I noticed a hint of red on Edward's cheeks out of the corner of my eye. Jasper took my hand and kissed it, "It's nice to meet you m'lady. I'm Jasper, this idiot's brother." He said gesturing to Edward, "I don't know where his manners went, he's not usually this rude, but this is Jacob and Seth, and Leah and Kate," He gestured to each of them as he spoke. He said their 'hello's and 'nice to meet you's in turn.

"Well hi! It's great to meet you all," I said.

"Thanks for coming," Jacob said, "How'd you like the show?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Ben beat me to it, "Oh you guys were great! Too bad you had such a short set."

"Yeah you guys rocked, I really enjoyed it," Angela added.

"They took the words right out of my mouth," I said with a smile. The guys just laughed.

"Aw hey we gotta pack up," Seth said gesturing to the stage.

"This is why we need roadies," Jacob groaned.

"Are the two gigs we've gotten to play getting to you?" Edward razzed, as they headed off behind the door he had disappeared behind earlier.

"Here why don't we push these tables together," Leah suggested, "That way we can talk to each other without having to shout over everyone." We nodded our heads and moved the chairs out of the way and pushed all three tables together so that they were touching and moved the chairs around the edges. The guys came back out the door carrying, or in Seth's case carting, various instrument cases and they quickly got to work packing up the stage.

"So," I asked the girls, "How long have your known the guys."

"Oh forever," Leah said, with a wave of her hand, "Literally, I'm Seth's sister. And Jacob and I grew up together. I had a crush on him for ages, but I was too scared to tell him, I didn't want to ruin our friendship. Then in high school I was dating this guy named Sam who dumped me for my cousin. I was so upset, and Jacob was there to comfort me. He got me through some dark days and then ended up telling me how he'd loved me for years and how I deserved so much better than that, even if it wasn't him and so I just kissed him. We've been together ever since."

"Oh wow," I said.

"Yeah that's such a sweet story. You're lucky," Angela said, "And how about you? Kate right? How did you meet Seth?"

"Oh," she flushed, "My story isn't quite so romantic. Every year my family would go on vacation at the beach they live at," she gestured to Leah, "and I remember when I saw Seth when I was fourteen and I thought he was just so cute, but I didn't get the nerve to talk to him until the following summer and we became friends. It wasn't until two years later that we started dating."

"I was so glad when they finally got together. Every time she could come over she would just follow him around like a little puppy," Leah laughed, "And when she would leave Seth wouldn't stop talking about her. Kind of like Edward with you," she said looking at me a sparkle in her eye, "or so I hear." I blushed.

"Yeah Seth told me you guys met at a coffee shop?" Kate asked.

"Yup," I nodded my head, "Angie and I work there. He came in Tuesday afternoon, you know when it was so warm out, and ordered a hot black coffee, and I basically told him I thought he was crazy."

Angela laughed at me, "You know I'm not sure I could have described that more perfectly myself. Anyway I guess he thought she was cute, because sure enough he was in the next day and she charmed him into helping her with her math homework."

"I did not! He offered." Leah chuckled at me.

"You see, clearly Bella doesn't know how charming she actually is.," Angela continued, "And then today she bumped into him, and so naturally he bought her lunch and then asked her to come tonight."

"It was a bit more complicated than that," I pouted, "And I'm really not that charming!"

"Of course not Bella," Ben said patting my arm, "You're completely innocent in all of this." I frowned and then they were all laughing at me.

"What's so funny?" Jasper asked as the guys came back over to the tables and sat down.

"Yeah, what's the joke? We want to laugh too," Seth added, settling down next to Kate.

"Oh nothing, we were just debating how Bella enticed Edward," Leah said grinning at me, "And what degree of charm she had to use to woo him." From next to me Edward threw a sugar packet at her.

"Well I'm sure Bella must be extremely charming to put a smile on this moody fucker's face," Jasper joined in, "Pardon my language."

"I am not moody!" Edward said crossing his arms across his chest.

"No of course not!" Jacob exclaimed, "Now why don't you just go brood in the corner about it." Even I had to chuckle at the angry look that crossed Edward's face.

"Why does everyone have to gang up against me?" he pouted.

"Hey I'm just happy I'm out of the spotlight," I said, "She's a pistol," I gestured at Leah.

"What can I say," Leah said fluttering her eyelashes, "I have a natural gift."

The conversation continued this was for a while, everyone poking fun at everyone else, although eventually Ben and Angela were able to steer the conversation back to the music. I found out that the name New Moon had come from the fact that the tribe Jacob, Seth, and Leah were from believed that they had descended from wolves, and as such they were very in tune with the movements of the moon. We also learned that Edward and Jacob had once been on rival baseball teams, but had somehow ended up friends. I didn't quite follow that story, there had been several little personal kind of nuances that hadn't been explained, and I didn't want to ask. All in all, it was nice hanging out with them, it was like their own little family of sorts, and I felt oddly comfortable around them.

At some point Angela and Ben had left for a bit, he had seen his coworker, Jack. Lockjaw played on and there was excitement in the air, but we were in our own little bubble, separate from the rest of the crowd. Edward got up to get more drinks, Jacob and Leah, as well as Seth and Kate were in their own little couples worlds, and it was sweet watching them. Jasper moved his chair closer to mine and leaned in to speak to me.

"You know I didn't notice it at first, but I see it more and more now, your eyes are practically identical to my girlfriends." I was a bit taken aback by his statement.

"Really?"

"Yeah, they're the same shade of light brown. Not something you see that often. And they're the same kind of shape too. Real big and round. It's uncanny."

"That's strange," I said, a weird feeling hitting the pit of my stomach.

"Yeah, it's almost as if you two were related."

"Maybe we are," I shrugged.

"Maybe?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "Wouldn't you know?"

"No, I'm uh," I paused, "I'm an orphan."

"You're an orphan?" He asked surprised.

"Who's an orphan?" Edward asked from behind me, putting the glasses on the table in front of me.

"Bella is," Jasper answered.

"You are?" He questioned me. I just nodded my head.

"I've never had a family," I said kind of softly. This wasn't something I liked sharing often. It was always awkward.

"Oh." Edward said softly as well, sitting back down next to me.

"Never?" Jasper asked.

I shook my head, "I mean I had a few foster families here and there, but nothing permanent."

"So you've just been," Jasper started again, swallowing before he continued, "alone?"

"No I've never been alone, there was always someone," I rectified, "Angela, Mrs. Masen the woman from the orphanage I lived at, some social workers," I shrugged, "I just never had a family to call my own."

"That's so sad," Edward whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I never knew anything different. I have people I love who love me in my life, and I figure that's good enough for me."

"Have you ever tried to find.." Jasper trailed off.

I nodded my head, "When I was eighteen I got my file, but there wasn't really anything in it. I had just kind of been dropped off with not much more than my name and birthdate."

We were silent for a moment and it was kind of tense. I hate that they found out like this, I hated that my past was ruining the evening.

"Guys, its fine," I broke the silence because clearly neither of them wanted to say anything, "Please don't make this into a big deal when it's not. It's nothing new to me, I'm used to it. I'm just the same old Bella I was half an hour ago." They both nodded their heads and we all took big sips from our beer. The loud applause that was coming from the surrounding audience broke the awkwardness.

"Think we'll ever get to Lockjaw level?" Jasper asked Edward.

"Oh yeah, we will, we've just got to keep playing," Edward said confidently, "When I was the bar, Sully told me we sold like fifteen CDs already."

"Fifteen? Nice!"

"How many do you usually sell?" I asked.

Jasper shrugged, "Two or three at most of our gigs, but they're smaller than this. Ones like this maybe five or seven. So fifteen is fantastic."

"You were really great tonight," I added, "I mean I don't know what you're like at other shows so my opinion maybe means nothing."

Edward laughed, "I think it helped that this show was a littler earlier than usually. Everybody was still mostly sober when we finished, so they we capable of realizing who we were."

"I think it was the posters," Jasper input, "I mean there weren't a ton of them, but they were the best looking advertising we've had. I should thank Alice for that," he grinned, "Speak of the Devil," He said shaking his lit up phone at us. He went through the mystery door to take the call.

"You really think we were good?" Edward asked, looking at me, "Honestly."

"Yes, honestly, I do think you guys were good. I really enjoyed the music, I wish you could have kept playing."

"Me too. I love being on stage, it's one of the greatest feelings in the world, being up there, playing our songs. It's absolutely amazing." He grinned, "I'll have to play you some of our other music, see what you think of that."

"Sounds good," I said, "I can tell it would make you happy. You have that look on your face when you talk about your music that Angela says I get when I'm really proud of a shot I got. It's like you feel like you did something amazing and you absolutely loved each second of it."

"Exactly," He said with a smile, "I'd like to see some of your work sometime."

"Normally I would have a camera in my bag, but this one's just too small," I gestured to my clutch, "So even my less impressive cameras are at home with all my prints."

"If I didn't know any better I'd swear you were trying to get me to come home with you," Edward teased, "As beautiful as you are Bella, I couldn't possibly be that intimate with you yet, I'm sorry to say. I told you before, I'm a gentleman."

I blushed, instinctively tilting my head so my face cascaded down across my face, "You really think I'm beautiful?"

"Yes," he said cupping my chin with his hand, tilting my head upwards, "I do. I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen before." He brushed my hair behind my ear and the next thing I knew he leaned in and his lips were brushing against mine.

**Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I probably won't be able to update until Sunday or Monday, weekends are tricky for me.**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hullo Everybody! Hope you had a good weekend.**

**The plot is mine.**

When Edward was kissing me, it was as if the whole world was melting behind me. I was so entirely lost in the moment that a bomb could have gone off right next to me and I wouldn't have noticed. His lips were smooth and soft, just as I had suspected. Our lips meshed together perfectly, and I was able to respond to his kiss as if it were as natural a thing as breathing. When our lips parted and our eyes opened, I could tell he had experienced something similar to what I just had.

"Wow," I breathed out, and the background slowly started to make itself known again. The sounds of the band and the crowd members grabbed my attention as we pulled apart.

"Yeah," he nodded, running his hand through his hair. We both took a moment and looked around, it appeared as though everyone else had been as oblivious to our kiss as we had been to them. Seth and Kate were still wrapped up in their own bubble, giggling together softly. Jacob and Leah were making out, and Angela and Ben were still out of sight.

"Hey uh, do you mind riding in the van?" Jasper asked, coming quickly out of the hidden room, "I should go see Alice." He looked distracted and was nervously playing with the keys in his hand.

"Oh uh, sure Jazz, no problem," Edward responded, slightly taken aback by Jasper's sudden appearance, "You go see your girl."

"Thanks," he said patting his brother on his back, as he made his way out the back entrance we had come in.

"Uh, unfortunately, this means I have to stay until they leave," he gestured at Seth and Jacob, "Or at least one of them. And we usually stay quite a long time, you know to mingle and what not." Edward shrugged like it was no big deal, but he didn't sound too thrilled. His seems apologetic towards me.

"Maybe you'll luck out and sell more CDs," I said smiling, trying to not sound too sad. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay much longer. I had to work in the morning, and I was sure that Angela and Ben would want to leave when Lockjaw was done playing, they didn't after all get too much time to themselves. I didn't know why this feeling was hitting me all of a sudden, I had known all along that this evening would end. I just felt like I wanted to spend more time with Edward. It was as if we had only a few fleeting moments together and I would never have the opportunity to see him again. I knew that was nonsense though.

"Well unless we sell out of them, and someone from a record label comes and offers us millions of dollars to sign with them, I still have to work tomorrow morning," he sighed.

"You have to work tomorrow morning too?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. I would have figured he would have the day off, knowing he had to be out the night before.

"Yeah, I always get stuck working the Saturday shift. No one wants to do it, and as a part timer, I get shafted. What time do you have to be in? Maybe I'll stop by on my way to get some coffee to keep me going, God knows I'll need it."

"Oh, I'll be in before 6. I'm so grateful we get free coffee otherwise I'd go broke trying to keep myself awake. Saturdays are awful, I don't get out until four," I shuddered thinking about it.

"Jesus, it must be way past your bedtime! If I'd have known, I would have made Jazz take you home."

I just shrugged, "I'm used to it. I can't get too much out of my routine otherwise my whole week is thrown off."

Edward nodded his head, "I get it. And I guess that's good for me, I don't have to be in until 8, so I get to see your beautiful face before I have to face the horrors of my morning." I blushed.

"Well I look forward to it. In fact I can almost guarantee that seeing you will be the highlight of my day."

"Ohh, I don't know what you did to her, but I've never heard Bella be so feisty before," Angela teased, she and Ben, appearing next to me.

Edward let out a chuckle and shook his head, "I didn't do anything, I think she was just hiding the sass from you."

"It's all that charm she denies having," Ben added, "It sneaks up on you."

"Who knew taking getting a few drinks in you at a concert would suddenly give you people skills," Angela said in a softer tone to me, but I was sure Edward and Ben heard anyway. I hit her on the stomach with the back of my hand, not hard enough to really hurt, but enough to make an impression, "Ow! Fine, be that way, we'll just leave you here."

"No, no, I'm coming, I'm coming," I said, standing up holding my hands out in front of me, "Peace." Edward stood up as I did, and it was a rather awkward moment as our eyes met. Angela whispered something to Ben, which made him grin and he nodded his head in response.

"Well it was great to meet you Edward," he said.

"Yes, we had a great time tonight," Angela added.

"Well thanks for coming," Edward smiled, shaking Ben's outstretched hand, smiling at Angela who winked in response, "And I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess you will," I said, noticing the twinkle in his green eyes, "Thanks for inviting me." I gave him a hug and took in his scent as he held me close.

"Thank you for coming. I would have been miserable if you hadn't," he whispered in my ear, kissing my forehead as I reluctantly pulled away, my face bright red.

In the car Angela and Ben were talking to me, and about me, and they asked me questions, but I was only half aware of what was going on. I was able to get away with a few 'uh huhs' before they realized how far away I really was.

"Okay, I guess we should leave Bella to her thoughts. I'll pester her about her date later," Angela said smiling softly at me. I smiled at her, grateful for the chance to get lost in my thoughts. Before I knew what was happening we were at my apartment. I said thank you to Ben for the ride, and thanked them for coming with me. When I got upstairs, after I got my boots off, I got out my phone and texted Jess, not wanting to feel her wrath later. The back and forth with her made my preparations for bed take almost triple the amount of time they normally would, but she wasn't as bad as I had expected her to be. I figured Mike was providing a good distraction. They were supposed to be on a romantic vacation after all.

After double checking my alarm, I plugged my phone in to let it charge. I lay down on my bed and looked out my window, up at the stars in the night sky. I heard another text alert go off, and I reluctantly checked, knowing I wouldn't be able to fall asleep unless I knew who it was.

**I hope you got home safe tonight. I had a really good time with you here, and now I'm bored without you.**

I couldn't help but smile, and I let out a goofy sounding sigh. _Geez Bella, what is this boy doing to you? You're like a lovesick puppy._

**I had a great time too. I was serious before when I said seeing you tomorrow morning will make my day.**

I only had to wait a couple of seconds before I got the reply.

**I wouldn't miss it for the world.**

I held my extra pillow to my chest, giggling into it. Thankfully sleep overtook me quickly, otherwise it would have been one long night.

**Sorry it's a bit short, I should have a longer one tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Leaving me a review is a great way to let me know what you think :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own the characters, just the plot.**

The next morning I woke up and I felt better than I ever had before; a miracle since I had only gotten about five hours of sleep. I had a grin on my face through my whole morning routine. I got to Java Juice before Eric, a rare occurrence. I turned on the lights, and put the premade pastries in the oven. Soon I delighted in the smells of cinnamon and sugar. I was prepping the coffee for brewing when Eric came in.

"Wow Bella," he said suppressing a yawn, "I'm impressed. I think this is the first time you've gotten here before I have. And half the work is done already!"

"What can I say? I woke up on the right side of the bed this morning," I grinned at him.

"Oh I see. This wouldn't have anything to do with your outing last night would it?"

"Maybe. How'd you find out about that anyway?"

"Please. You know not only are we friends, but we're friends with some of the same people. Word gets around. If anything I'm insulted that I wasn't invited."

I laughed, "Ok Eric, next time."

The morning went by pretty quickly, I kept busy right up until opening. Then there was nothing. I sat at the counter, drumming my fingers against the counter, willing someone, anyone, to come in and get coffee. I kept looking at the clock; I was certain time had stopped moving entirely, and it was only 6:32.

"Geez Bella, you look like you're trying to set that clock on fire with your mind. You're acting like you've never opened on a Saturday morning before. You know how slow it starts out."

I let out a sigh, "I know, you're right, somehow it just seems slower this morning is all."

"Maybe because for once you're actually looking forward to something."

"You know that actually makes sense," I nodded at him, "It's like for once I'm looking forward to leading my life instead of having work be my life."

"Exactly!" Eric came up behind me and grabbed my shoulders excitedly, "Bella I've been waiting for this day to come! That rare spark in your eye has come out to stay!" He shook me a little, and I wiggled out of his grasp.

"God Eric, you're acting like I've been reborn. Calm down a little yeah?"

Eric laughed at me and shook his head. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead waved his hand at me and turned away. I took a step closer to him, and was reaching out to grab him, and then the bell tinkled, signaling our first customer. I soon forgot Eric's overexcited behavior as our morning took off. We weren't swamped by any means, just busy enough. I knew that would change and we would become busier after 8, after most of the shops had opened.

It was a little after 7:30 when Edward came in. I had never really noticed how he had dressed the previous days he had come into the shop, but after seeing him yesterday, he somehow looked out of place in his clothing. Don't get me wrong, he looked good, but the emerald green button up, black slacks, and now dull black work shoes, but they just weren't him. He had small bags under his eyes and it looked like he had barely gotten any sleep. His hair was in disarray, not like it normally was, but instead it appeared he had tried to comb it, but had failed and given up. _He's still the most attractive man I've ever seen._

"Hi," he said softly, his voice sounding groggy as if this was the first time he'd spoken all day. As he cleared his throat, it occurred to me that it probably was.

"Hi. You look so tired, what time did you get home last night?"

"Oh well you know, it was after three. We ended up staying until the bar closed, and then we had to deal with the instruments. Of course I woke Jasper up when I got home, and instead of helping me with his bass, he just grumbled at me about losing his beauty sleep, like he had anywhere to be today," The last bit he said bitterly and under his breath, not intending for me to hear it, "So by the time I actually fell asleep it was probably just after 4."

"And I thought I got no sleep. Lots of coffee then?" He nodded hopelessly, getting out his wallet, "Oh no, don't worry, this one's on the house," I said patting his hand.

"I bet you didn't get much more sleep than I did and you still look fantastic, and I look like this," he took a step back, gesturing at himself.

"Oh please. And you yourself, you look fine," I said, handing him his coffee, "However, your eyes are a dead giveaway."

He shrugged sipping his coffee, "I imagine they'll perk up after seeing you." I couldn't help but blush a bit at that one.

"What a line! I'll have to remember that one later when I start wanting to pull my hair out this afternoon."

"Who says it's a line? I could find something about you to compliment no matter how tired I was."

"And they said I was the charming one," I snorted, "You must have an advanced degree in flattery."

He pouted, "But I mean it! They're sincere compliments, no matter how cheesy they sound."

"Alright, alright, I believe you," I said putting my hands up as a sign of defeat, "I guess I'm just not used to being flooded with compliments. The attention is more than I'm used to."

"I don't know why. I'm surprised you don't have guys lined up the block trying to get a chance to talk to you."

I blushed again, "That's ridiculous. I'm nothing special."

"You just don't see yourself clearly do you?" Edward frowned.

"I really don't know what you're talking about," I said firmly, "I see myself just fine."

"Look, I'd stand here and argue with you about this all day until you were able to see yourself through my eyes, but unfortunately, I have to get to work." I frowned. I didn't want him to leave yet, he only just arrived.

I sighed, "I guess you do have to go huh?"

"Unfortunately," he nodded his head, "Thank you for the coffee, it should get me through my shift until I can go home and take a nap."

"Lucky you," I mumbled, "I'll still be here suffering." He just gave me a goofy grin and leaned in and kissed my cheek.

"You should text me when you get home. I'd like to know that you survived your afternoon. Then I can plan out where I can next bump into you," He winked at me. I rolled my eyes at him, but I was smiling anyway.

"Have a good morning Edaward."

"You too, Bella." And then he was gone.

"So that was him huh?" Eric questioned, standing behind me, making me jump. I had forgotten about him.

"Jesus Eric!" I smacked him, "You scared the shit outta me! Don't sneak up on me like that. But yes, that was Edward." He rubbed his arm where I had hit him and nodded his head.

"So when you gonna sleep with him?"

"You are just as bad as Jess!" I shouted at him, pointing my finger in his face.

"That's right! I've now seen him before Jess has! YES!"

"You don't know how happy I am that I was here with you when you achieved such greatness."

"Oh shut up, you know she's going to be so jealous. Then I'll finally have something to hold over her head for once."

"Maybe if you started thinking before you act, or speak for that matter, she won't have anything to make fun of you for."

"You know that's not going to happen Bella. It's just part of who I am, I can't help it. Do you think it's too early to text and brag? I mean if it was just Jess I'd do it, but I don't want to wake up Mike if he's still asleep. I can't handle him being pissed at me again. It's terrifying."

"Maybe you shouldn't text her at all. We are at work you know."

"Pfft like that makes a difference to anyone. You know as well as I do that it doesn't matter. As long as I'm able to serve the customer and get my job done." And then a crowd walked through the door.

"You were saying?"

"Just take their orders would ya?" Eric sighed.

We had quite the morning rush, there was a pretty steady flow of customers, and by the time he would have been able to text Jess, Eric and I only cared about taking a moment to relax and catch our breath. Eric left shortly after my lunch break, and Angie came in to replace him. She looked as if she had just woken up. I took over making the drinks, something I rarely did, and Angela took over the register. Around one o'clock I got a text from Edward.

**Ahhh, nap time. Hope your afternoon doesn't suck.**

I was tempted to text something snarky back, but I decided against it. I couldn't think of anything else to text him, so I decided to just not respond. After all, I had lectured Eric earlier about texting at work. Though, it had been pretty evident that I just didn't want to get Jess more involved.

The afternoon wasn't so bad. It wasn't quiet per say, but we didn't have any more rushes. Angela and I barely talked, but it wasn't an awkward silence, it was comfortable. Rosalie came in, just as she'd promised, but only for a moment. She apologized for not being able to stay, and asked me if I'd seen him again. I gave her the condensed version of what had happened. She squeed and gave me a big hug, telling me I was on the right track. She gave me her number and insisted I text her as soon as something new happened. Then she was off, she was vague, saying she needed to apologize to her cousins for blowing them off.

I ended up having to stay past four, Lauren was running late for her shift. When she got in, I was tempted to tell her off, but I didn't. I just didn't care enough to bother.

When I got back to my apartment, after my shoes came off, I sank down into the couch, cuddling with one of my throw pillows. I took my phone off of silent and texted Edward.

**Home, where my couch is my best friend.**

I put the pillow to the side, stretching my whole body, bits of my back cracking as I went. I curled up again, and turned on the TV. I was in no mood to read, I didn't want to think about anything. I flipped through the channels, hoping to find a movie, or something that I could leave on and not worry about. My phone went off, just as I settled on Jurassic Park.

**Funny you should mention that, earlier my bed was my best friend. Maybe we should get them together sometime.**

I know it was stupid, but it made me laugh.

**Sounds like a good idea, I'm sure they'd hit it off.**

I kept looking between my phone and my TV screen, waiting for him to text me again. Luckily I didn't have to wait too long.

**As long as we're not on them when it happens. I don't fancy being tossed onto the floor by my furniture.**

I laughed, more so at him than at what he said, and my phone went off again.

**I can't believe I sent you that message. It was too cheesy. Can we pretend I didn't say anything?**

_At least he knows how ridiculous he sounded._ I grinned. I liked that he said stupid cheesy things, it made me feel better knowing that I would do the same thing at some point.

**Nope, the damage has been done. Your cheesy-ness is known. **

I had considered telling him that I liked him even more for it, but I decided that was too much.

**And you're still talking to me? You don't hate me?**

**Yes, still talking to you, and no, don't hate you. For now. Although I will be telling my friends later ;)**

**Good to know. They can't be as mean as my cousin. She got here when I was asleep and woke me up when Jazz told her there was a new woman in my life she didn't know about. It wasn't pretty. **

**I assume Jasper is in trouble?**

**Yes, but he thinks I'll be nice. He got some of Rose's wrath when he wouldn't give her any details about you, before she woke me up of course. If she hadn't smelled like coffee when she woke me up, I would have put up more of a fight against her.**

**She brought you coffee? Doesn't sound so bad.**

**Oh no, she didn't bring any, she just smelled like it. Reminded me of you.**

**Good to know that I now need to take showers when I get home from work so I don't smell **

**Oh no, don't. I like your coffee smell. Although Rose had a similar reaction when she found out she smelled like coffee. She was cursing her friend she visited at some coffee shop before she came over.**

_Wait Edward is Rosalie's cousin?_

**She wants to meet you by the way. I told her it was her own fault for not coming to the show last night like she had planned, which is ironically why she came over this afternoon.**

Well that confirmed it for me. Instead of responding to him, I texted Rose instead.

**Rose, by any chance are your cousins Edward and Jasper?**

The response was almost instant. She must be attached to her phone like Jess.

**Um yeah. How did you know?**

**Well, Edward is the guy I was telling you about. He was just texting me about his mean cousin that came to visit.**

**NO WAY! Kismet! Also, did he actually call me mean?**

**He did actually. Complained about you waking him up, and said something about your wrath.**

**What a baby. I am not mean, I just work hard to get what I want.**

_Well now you know they're related. That kissable lip thing must be genetic. Not so weird that you wanted to kiss her too. _Edward texted me again, bringing me out of my daze.

**Oh no don't tell me that I've scared you away already. My family isn't so bad, I promise! And you don't have to meet her right away…**

I bit my lower lip, trying to decide what to do next. Should I play with him a little bit?

**I didn't know we were in the 'come meet my family' direction.**

**I did scare you away. I'm sorry, I'm didn't mean it like that, I'm not trying to be pushy. I just really like you and I guess I got nervous.**

**Well I really like you too. And you didn't scare me away, I've just never moved this fast in a relationship before.**

**I'm sorry. We can slow down. I've done the too fast thing before and it didn't end well.**

**Well I've done the too slow thing before, and that didn't end well. So maybe a happy medium? Besides, I enjoyed kissing you too much to give up on that.**

**You enjoyed my kisses huh? I enjoyed that myself. Happy medium sounds good, I am a gentleman after all right? I'll just tell Rose she has to wait.**

**A real gentleman wouldn't talk about kissing so much, it's distracting. And ironically, I know Rose. We met earlier this week.**

**So I'm assuming you were the friend she was visiting? Less weird that the way she smelled reminded me of me as I completely disregard the last five minutes of my life. Can we rewind a bit, to my cheesy comment?**

**Disregarding is ok, so long as it's not forgotten. Rewinding is fine.**

**Good. So Bella, how was your afternoon? And more importantly do you have any plans for this evening?**

**My afternoon was alright, pretty quiet. My friend Rose came to visit but that was it. Currently I'm watching Jurassic Park, but right now my stomach is telling me it's about time to do other things. However I have no actual plans.**

**Jurassic Park huh? You have some goat in your apartment for dinner?**

**No, no goat. In fact I have no idea what I am going to do for dinner.**

**Maybe I can help. If you don't mind that is.**

**What did you have in mind?**

**I'm a decent cook, if I say so myself. I'd invite you over, but I'm starting to think Jasper may have gotten infected last night….Would you mind if I invited myself over?**

He wanted to come over and cook me dinner? My life was turning into a romantic comedy. I thought about it for a minute, was my apartment presentable? Was I ready for him to come here? Is this a happy medium? I texted Rose again, to get her opinion. She got back to me, and I promptly texted Edward my address.

**I'll be there in 20. You might want to have a snack.**

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to eat at all, I was so excited, but then my stomach growled. _Snack it is._

**Thanks for reading! I'd love feedback. Reviews encouraged :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for everyone who keeps adding my story to your alerts. Thank you BellaAngelin for your continuous reviews, I really appreciate them :)**

**Still don't own the characters, just the plot.**

I raced around my apartment trying to pick up and straighten things, although there wasn't much to do. It was small space and I was a relatively clean person. I swept up the floor quickly, and went to the bathroom to check myself out. My hair had been up during my shift at work, but I let it down. My shirt had some crumbs on it, but my jeans were fine. I switched out my tee shirt for a clean one. I got an orange out of the fridge and took a paper towel and sat back down on the couch and continued to watch Jurassic Park while I ate it. I was just throwing out the rinds when there was a knock on the door. I jumped and stubbed my toe against the counter.

"Ow! Fuck!" I swore, as I hobbled over to the door, peering through the peephole. Of course it was Edward, and he knocked again, making me bang my head on the door, "GOD DAMNED ASS BALL TWAT!"

"Sorry!" I heard through the door, massaging my head. I was able to unlock it and swing it open, and hit Edward all in one movement, "Ow! Hey!"

"That was for making me stub my toe and hit my head! How'd you get up here anyway? You sneaky bastard I was expecting you to ring the bell to be let in."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Or make you hurt yourself. One of your neighbors was coming out when I was coming in. I didn't think it'd cause such a problem," he frowned a little.

"I'm sorry I hit you, bad reaction. Come in, I mean if you still want to," I moved over and opened the door wider. He stepped in and I swung the door shut, locking it behind him.

"Wow," he said looking around the walls, "Did you make all of these?"

"Not all of them, some of them are prints I bought. I spent a lot of time trying to get it just so."

"It's fantastic," he said moving closer to the wall, inspecting them closer.

"Thanks," I blushed a bit, no one had ever really took such an interest in my decorating before. We spent a moment of silence both of us looking at my walls, admiring what was on them. Suddenly I noticed Edward was holding a paper bag.

"Do you want me to take that?" I asked softly gesturing to the bag in his hand. He looked at me for a moment, breaking his concentration.

"Oh right, no, thanks, that's ok. I actually should get to cooking right?" He smiled at me and starting moving towards the kitchen.

"Right," I smiled, "What can I help with?"

"No, no, no help, I'm doing this for you. Just show me where everything is and then you just rest."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, if I need any help I'll be sure to let you know."

"Okay…" I said and then showed him around the kitchen, which only took a moment really, there wasn't much there.

"Perfect. Now you just relax," He grinned at me pointing at the couch.

"If you're sure."

"Oh I'm sure. Really. Take a load off."

"Okay, but if you need anything at all.."

"I will let you know immediately," He nodded his head definitely. I nodded my head feebly and went to sit down. I turned off the TV and sat in the chair, with my book out. I wasn't particularly able to pay attention. I was too busy watching Edward in the kitchen, listening to him hum as he went along. It was mesmerizing. Soon the smell of roasting potatoes filled the air. He was currently cutting up some vegetables; peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and squash. There were thin pieces of chicken breast marinating in a bowl next to the stove. Some tomato juice squirted out across his thumb, which he promptly put in his mouth and sucked off. I subconsciously bit my bottom lip as I stared at him. Something so simple should not be so sexy. _Snap out of it!_ I shook my head and tried, unsuccessfully, to get back to my book.

Instead of just staring at him, I decided I should actually speak to him, "What's that you're humming?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't even realize. I didn't mean to distract you," He said, turning his attention to me for a moment, flashing me an apologetic smile.

"Oh no, don't apologize. I was enjoying it. Besides, the delicious smells are really what's distracting me." _Not to mention the delicious looking man cooking._

He grinned, "Oh it's just something I've been working on. A piano piece. It's been in my head for days, but it's just not quite done yet. Something's missing," He said, placing the bits of chicken into a pan on the stove. I assumed the pan had been warming there, as it started sizzling immediately.

"I know what you mean. Sometimes as great as things are, something is just off, and you can't quite put your finger on it. Can I hear it when you finish it? Besides, now that I've seen your guitar skills first hand I feel the need to complete the picture. I want to enjoy the wide variety of musical talents you possess."

"Alright, but you do realize that requires you take a trip to my apartment. I can't exactly tote around my piano."

"I think I can handle that," I paused before I spoke again, "How's the cooking coming? Need any help?"

"You are supposed to be relaxing missy," He said shaking a spoon at me.

"Did you really just call me missy?" I couldn't help but laugh, "And I'm just getting antsy. I'm not used to having someone take care of me like this."

He pouted briefly as I laughed at him, "Ahhh I see. The conundrum of the independent woman."

I snorted, "And what would you know about being an independent woman?"

"Truthfully, nothing," He shrugged sheepishly, "As I am clearly not one myself, and I can't say I've ever really dated one. I just assume its difficult letting someone else do things for you when you're so used to doing them yourself. You want to enjoy it, but you somehow feel bad about it, and you have a difficult time fighting the urge to intervene."

"That's actually pretty spot on," I nodded, "So you see why it's so difficult for me to be spoiled like this."

"Spoiled?" He raised an eyebrow. " This is not spoiling by any means. Consider this a gesture. A romantic one even, if you're willing." His voice got a bit softer towards the end, and his gaze went downwards. It was as if he were afraid of my rejection, although how that thought could even cross his mind is beyond me.

"I can accept a romantic gesture," I said, a bit louder than he spoke, but still in soft tones. I blushed a bit and his face lit up, "But I'm still antsy."

"Well then I suppose it's a good thing dinner is almost ready," He grinned at me.

I let out a heavy sigh, "I guess so, since clearly there is nothing you'll have me do." He just nodded his head in response. I huffed once more, and turned my attention back to my book, actually reading it this time. Edward started humming again.

I was able to contain myself until dinner was ready. As we ate, I couldn't help but gush at how delicious everything was, scolding him for only referring to himself as a decent cook. He responded simply by saying that hunger is always the best cook. Eating dinner together like was nice. Really nice. It felt natural. Edward seemed to be enjoying himself as well. After dinner, he even insisted on cleaning up, despite my protests.

"My mother always said the best way to win a girl over is to be able to cook and clean for her, instead of depending on it being the other way around."

"I'm sure that being an attractive musician doesn't hurt either."

I let Edward do the dishes, but I insisted on drying them. He agreed, but only on the condition that I would show him some more of my photographs after we finished. To say he was impressed by my work was an understatement. He insisted that I could be a professional, and said that he (assuming the other guys agreed) would love for me to get some shots of the band. To take some of the attention off of me, I showed Edward some of my babies. I was sure he didn't understand half of what I was saying about the lenses, the shutter speeds, aperture, and focus, but he was attentive none the less. He seemed nearly as enthusiastic about the topic as I was, which was pretty impressive, considering how passionate I am about the topic. As we talked about the differences between film and digital photography, we moved closer and closer together on the couch. Thankfully my cameras had been put safely down, because somehow my body was moving out of my control. As my lips pressed into his, my albums tumbled to the floor in front of us, but I was currently too engrossed in Edward to give them a second thought.

My hands found their way across his body. One ended up in his hair while the other was caressing his arm, who's hand was at my waist. His other stray hand was cupping my face as our kiss went deeper, each of us exploring the other's mouth. I couldn't help but let out a low moan into his mouth. In reaction to that, his hand grasped my side tighter. I had no idea where this aggressive passion was coming from, I was never one to make moves like this, but I didn't care. I knew this was the right thing to be doing this exact moment.

I reluctantly pulled away, staring into Edward's green eyes. Our eyes remained locked as we adjusted, so that I was no longer overpowering him. We snuck in a couple of soft, teasing kisses as we sat as equals. Both of his hands began caressing my sides. As much as I willed his hands to go underneath my shirt, longing for the skin contact, I knew that would be rushing things. I was busy myself, running my fingers across his chest, then down to his stomach and back again.

"You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen," he whispered in my ear, "They're mesmerizing."

"You're one to talk," I mumbled as he slowly leaned me back, his mouth pressing against mine again.

After another moment, he pulled away, "We should stop. I mean, I want to but.."

I nodded my head, "I know. You're right," I sat up properly again, kissed him softly one last time and adjusted my shirt, feeling self-conscious, "We could watch a movie or something," I offered, "Unless you have to go." He shook his head.

"A movie sounds great."

The two of us went through my DVDs, and we ending up agreeing on Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. I grabbed a throw off of my bed, and we cuddled together on the couch. Under the blanket there was an electric charge between Edward and I, but neither of us acknowledged it. At some point I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew the light from outside was shining through my window waking me up. My eyelids fluttered open, and I blinked several times, not enjoying the light that was now in my face. At first I couldn't figure out how I ended up how I had been sleeping. I wasn't exactly comfortable, in fact parts of me were sore, but before I moved I looked over and there was Edward, still asleep. This wasn't exactly how I had pictured our first night together.

**So what do you think? I love a good review to get some feedback :)**

**I plan on picking up the pace a little bit now, not overly so, but just a little less detail about each day.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hope everyone had a good weekend! Thanks for everyone who keeps adding my story to your favorites, and continued thanks to my faithful reviewer.**

**I just own the lowly plot.**

As I sat up, Edward turned on his side and let out a little moan. I looked at his sleeping for and let out a giggle.

"Wassso funny?" he mumbled sleepily, his eyes blinking lazily, trying to open properly.

"I'm sorry," I said softly, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"S'okay," He mumbled again, when I stood up, he rolled over onto his back, his eyes opening a bit wider now. He was just starting to come into consciousness, "I, uh, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. I'm sorry."

"Actually I think I fell asleep on you."

"So uh," he said rubbing the back of his neck, looking down, "what time is it?"

"Eight. You didn't have anywhere to be did you?"

He shook his head, "Nope, just in bed. I usually sleep in on Sundays."

"Me too," I said softly nodding my head, "But best not to sleep piled on top of each other on the couch."

"I agree. My whole body is stiff, I feel like an old man," He said getting up and stretching. I couldn't help but notice he wasn't kidding when he said his whole body was stiff. I blushed and looked away, hoping he didn't catch me looking at him.

"Do you need some advil or anything?" I asked, heading towards the bathroom. I had to pee and I wanted to give him a moment to himself. This was an awkward morning. I was still pretty tired and I wanted to go to bed, and I'm pretty sure Edward felt the same way.

"Uhhh," he said cracking his back, "Yeah I should probably take some."

"Ok, I'll be right out. Help yourself to water or whatever," I gestured to the kitchen. I saw him nodding out of the corner of my eye as I shut the bathroom door behind me. When I came out, I handed him the bottle of advil, and poured myself a small cup of orange juice. I needed some of that advil myself. He swallowed down the pills with a gulp of water. He asked softly if he could use my bathroom and I said of course. I popped my own pills while he was in there, trying to figure out how to approach this situation.

When he came out of the bathroom, he looked at me shyly, "So this is an awkward question, and feel free to say no, but would you mind if I stayed here to sleep a little while longer? I mean I can sleep on the couch, it's no problem, I don't want to move anything to fast. If you're going to get up, please kick me out, I don't want to inconvenience you. If I go home, I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep."

I had to make a snap decision, should I let him stay? I did want to sleep more, but did I want him here? Was it too much? My instinct was to tell him no, to go home, but when I was about to tell him that, I got quite sad. I guess deep down I really didn't want him to leave yet.

"You can stay. And you don't have to sleep on the couch, no need to make things worse, we can share the bed."

"I-Are you sure?"

I just nodded my head, "Which side of the bed do you sleep on?" I asked sitting on the edge. I had a full sized bed, so there was enough room for both of us, but we'd still be relatively close. I had chills running down my spine thinking about his arms around me as we slept. I could change into something more comfortable, but I had nothing for Edward. I decided to keep on what I had been wearing, to keep things even.

"Usually, the left, but really either's fine. I don't want to put you out."

"No that's perfect," I said sliding in, "I sleep on the right anyway." I patted the space next to me. With a bit of hesitation he got in next to me.

"Thank you, Bella. I swear I'll make this up to you," He said softly, but I just waved him off. The two of us lied there uneasily, not sure of what we should be doing. I don't think either of us wanted to do anything to make the other one uncomfortable, in turn making ourselves uncomfortable. Finally I adjusted, turning onto my side, settling in the way I would normally fall asleep. I felt Edward moving around, adjusting next to me.

"Um, Bella," his voice tinkled softly in my ear, "Do you mind if I hold you?"

"I would like that," I whispered back and his arm wrapped around me. A smile crossed my face. A few minutes later I fell asleep to Edward's soft snoring.

Around ten o'clock we woke up. I'm not sure who woke up first, or what even caused us to wake up, but I felt fantastic, better than I ever remember feeling before. We lay there for a little while, breathing softly, staring at each other, pressing the occasional soft kisses on bits of skin in front of us. When our lips would meet, they greeted each other as old friends. We had mumbled, nonsensical conversations about nothing at all, just enjoying each other's company. Around eleven, Edward said it was probably time he should go. I nodded my head softly in response and he promised to call me this afternoon. When he left I took a long shower, enjoying the warm water falling on my body, and I found the smell of my soap very soothing.

Edward called that afternoon as promised. We talked for a little while, and made plans to meet up for lunch the next day. I had a lazy kind of afternoon, but I was happier than I'd ever been. I talked to Angela, and Jess, and Rose. They all had different reactions to my story of what had happened. Jess hadn't believed me when I told her that we didn't actually have sex, but I was in too good of a mood to even care. Angela was happy I was happy, but warned me against moving too fast. She was appeased when I told her that Edward and I had already talked about it. Rose told me that she would have preferred if things had been a bit different, but told me what a good fit she thought Edward and I was. She gave me advice for what to do for the next week depending on how things were going between us. She suggested we go on a double date with her and her boyfriend Emmett, whom Edward already knew, if things were going well, the following week. I agreed that it was a good idea, and she said she would arrange the whole thing.

After dinner I was feeling creatively inspired, so I took my camera and went out into the city. I wandered around and took photos of whatever struck my interest. I had a wide range of subjects, and when it started getting dark, I went home. I flicked through my photos, pretty satisfied with my shots. I got ready for bed early, wanting to be comfy. I got all cozy in bed with my laptop, uploading my photos from my camera. My phone went off, it was Edward.

**How was the rest of your day?**

**Pretty fantastic actually, how about you?**

**Fantastic huh? What did you do? My day was pretty good. I got some shit for staying over your place, but after I made some threats it was all good. Practice went well, played some video games, just chilled.**

**I had a pretty lazy day. Talked to some friends, relaxed. Went out and took some photos after dinner, inspiration hit you know?**

**That sounds great. I hope you didn't stay out too late, Seattle's no NYC, but it is still a big city, gotta be careful.**

**Yeah okay dad. Lol, yeah I came home when it started getting dark. Got some great shots, I'll have to show you.**

**Hey I just want you to be safe, can't I be an over cautious boyfriend? Can't wait to see them :)**

**You forget that before I was your girlfriend, I was an independent woman ;) Did you work on that new song you were humming with the guys?**

**I'm just going to be happy that you didn't make it weird that I called myself your boyfriend, I know we hadn't talked about it. And no, they don't know about it. My own little side project.**

**You're a sneaky bastard. I'm going to go to bed now, work in the morning and all that.**

**:p Me too. Sleep well, I'll see you at lunch tomorrow.**

I fell asleep smiling that night. The next morning I was working with Laurent. He was a nice enough guy, but he was friends with my ex, James. He was actually the one who had set us up. After our relationship had ended, Laurent and I grew apart. Now we only really spoke at work. I held nothing against him, but it had been difficult at first since he and James are close, so we had grown apart. Despite this, he knew me well enough to know that something had changed since he saw me last week.

"So Bella," he started after we had exchanged some pleasantries and small talk, "what happened to you between last week and today?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said trying to busy myself, organizing the pastries.

"Oh come on Bella, I know you better than that. You seem different; happier. Something had to have happened."

I blushed, "Well I met this guy.."

"A guy huh?" he said leaning against the counter, "I figured as much."

"Geez, glad to know I'm so obvious."

Laurent let out a hearty chuckle, "It's a good thing Bella. You deserve some happiness."

"Thanks," I blushed.

"How'd you guy meet? If you don't mind me asking."

"Here actually. He came in, we talked, he came in the next day…."

"Dating a customer, nice," He grinned, "I bet he left you a big tip," he winked at me, "When are you seeing him next?"

"Lunch today actually."

"Wow, I'm impressed," Laurent nodded his head, "So when do you need this lunch break?"

"Twelve-thirty if you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all. In fact if you were to be a couple of minutes late, I doubt I'd even notice."

"Thanks," I grinned, enjoying Laurent's company. I had forgotten how well we had gotten along before the James fiasco.

The rest of the morning went along smoothly, and soon it was time for my break. I rode my bike over to the restaurant we had agreed on, it was between Java Juice and the bank Edward worked at. As I locked up my bike, a pair of arms I could only assume belonged to Edward wrapped around me, and he kissed my neck.

"Hello beautiful," He purred.

"Mmmm hello," I said lowly, almost moaning, "I like this greeting. What a way to sweep a girl off her feet." I turned to face him and he was grinning.

"That's what I like to hear," He said planting a soft kiss on my lips.

"You look fantastic," I said, "I feel underdressed."

He waved me off, "You look just fine."

It was an Italian restaurant, the hostess was staring at Edward like he was a piece of meat. I could have been nonexistent for the attention she paid me. Edward didn't even notice her. I just ignored it, I knew Edward was attractive, and so long as he wasn't given anyone else attention I didn't care. The waitress was just as bad, if not worse. After we ordered our food and the waitress left, I looked at him and laughed.

"How do you put up with it?"

"With what?" he asked, looking at me as if I had five heads.

"All the flirting," I said, "The hostess, the waitress, everyone you charm."

"Please Bella, I don't even notice. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I'm a musician, I've had girls flirting with me here and there. It's something that doesn't faze me anymore. At first I didn't know how to react to the attention, but I wasn't interested in any of the girls who were throwing themselves at me. So I just sort of developed a blind eye to it, because I felt so awkward when I was aware of it."

"I see," I said, not sure how I wanted to respond to that. I wasn't even sure how I felt about it, "What made me different?"

He chuckled, "I don't even know where to start. Everything about you is different, yet somehow familiar. You're not like other girls I've met."

"I'm glad for that I guess."

"I know I am. You're like this old soul – like me. You see the world differently than other people. You're beautiful, but you're not a beauty queen. There is just so much less drama with you, everything about you is just so natural and comfortable. You're not trying to impress anyone, you're just yourself. And I love how you walk on your toes when you don't have shoes on, you move so smoothly, it's just adorable."

"You noticed that?" My face felt flush.

He grinned, "How could I not? I like watching the way you move. You're clumsy when you're trying your hardest not to be, but when you're being yourself the way you move is like watching a dance."

The waitress came back with our meals, and thankfully the conversation shifted away from me. During our lunch Edward made me laugh so hard I almost snorted my water out of my nose. It burned, but thankfully he didn't seem to notice what a doof I was. When I got back to Java Juice, Laurent took one look at me and a grin took up his whole face.

"Had a good date I take it?"

I didn't answer, just gave him a knowing look, tied on my apron, and got back to work.

**Thanks for reading! I would really enjoy getting some more reviews *nudge nudge***


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for the reviews! They're very encouraging :) I'm glad you're enjoying my story.**

**To h, who asked about my updates, I don't have a schedule, but I do a minimum of two updates per week, usually during the week. I've been trying to do more, but I've run out of pre-written material, so I'm working purely off my outline, so it's taking me a little longer to update than it was in the beginning. **

**The plot is mine, but that's all.**

My Monday evening was pretty typical for me, albeit busier than usual. My semester was coming to a close, and I needed to get going on my creative writing essays. I hadn't even attempted to get any of my school work done since Thursday. Edward had kept me otherwise occupied, not that I had minded. He had promised he would try to stop by after he got out of work evening to see if he could help me more with my math. We hadn't made any particularly specific plans, but we did loosely try to schedule time to see each other almost every day. Unfortunately, some of that time would be spent at work, for me. We both had other things going on, obligations beyond just our working schedule.

I had thought this would have made me unhappy somehow, but as it turned out I enjoyed myself. I began to savor the time I actually got to spend with Edward, no matter what we were doing. Of course I looked forward to it each time, and we always had to part too soon for my liking, but it was working out well for us. We had developed a kind of routine. We had our good morning text, whatever opportunity to see each other during the day, and our evening phone call. Other than the fact that I wasn't actually with him, our evening phone calls were growing to be my favorite part of my day. We spent them essentially playing twenty questions. We learned so much about each other that way. Sometimes the conversations were silly, other times they got pretty heavy.

I found out about his parents, Carlisle and Esme. Edward described both of them as the most caring and compassionate people in the world. Carlisle was a doctor at the hospital, and he was devoted to his job. Edward even told me that he had been offered a promotion, but he declined because he wouldn't work with the patients as much. Esme was an interior decorator, but she had mostly stayed home when he and Jasper were young. The way he described his mother reminded me of my relationship with Mrs. Masen, which he heard all about. However between hearing the closeness of his family, and sharing some stories of my own childhood, the pangs of longing for my own family had surfaced. I didn't let the emotion get the best of me, but I'm fairly certain that Edward had figured it out anyway.

In other conversations, Edward heard stories of some of my clumsiest moments. He didn't believe me when I told him how many times I had broken or sprained some part of my body until I started recounting some of the events to him. After five different stories of injuries from walking on stairs, he laughed an conceded, saying that he believed me after all. In return he told me stories of various injuries he and Jasper had given each other. The first time they had played mini-golf Jasper had been standing behind Edward and ended up getting hit in the face with the club, because Edward thought you swung the same way the professional golfers did on TV. Ironically he missed the ball entirely. Edward ended up having to get stitches when his teeth went through his bottom lip, because Jasper had once convinced him that they should sled down the stairs in their house.

We also found out that the first movie either of us remember going to see in theaters was the Lion King. Edward's first concert had been Third Eye Blind, although he didn't understand really any of what their songs meant at the time. I told him he should be grateful that he got to pick his, mine had been Sheryl Crow, purely because she had been performing at the state festival that we had gone to. He had loved Scooby Doo growing up, I had been more of a Rugrats fan. His favorite color was teal, and I had blurted out green when he asked me mine – I had been thinking about his eyes at the time. I quickly added that I also really liked purple, which actually is my favorite color.

Depending on how busy each of us were, the phone calls could last a long time. I often found myself on the phone until I could no longer hold my eyelids open. The week went by quickly, and soon it was Friday. I had seen Edward every day except Thursday. We had wanted to have lunch together, but our breaks just didn't match up. He didn't even have time to stop by after work because Thursdays were mandatory rehearsal for the band. We had plans for Friday, Edward was planning something and was being relatively secretive about it. I had planned talking to him when he was very tired Thursday night to get him to spill the beans, but I ended up falling asleep before he called. All I knew was that wherever we were going was "out in the country" and involved a long car ride.

Edward came to pick me up earlier than I had expected. I had actually just gotten out of shower when he was ringing the bell. Panicking I buzzed him in, pulling on some underwear and throwing on my bathrobe before unlocking the door to let him in.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you quite so early," I blushed

"Uhh," He stuttered, clearly trying not to stare, "I'm sorry, I should have- I should have called to make sure you'd be ready."

"It's ok," I said, "I'll just be a minute." He came in and I shut the door behind him. I grabbed my pile of clothes and went into the bathroom to change, "So I don't suppose coming early and seeing me almost naked has earned me an explanation of what we're doing today?"

"Hmmm," he mumbled, "Well I want to show one of my favorite places, from when I was growing up. And we'll be outside. But don't worry, we're supposed to have good weather."

I grumbled from the bathroom, "That wasn't much help. Do I need to bring anything?"

"Mmm, nope!"

I sighed as I came out of the bathroom, brushing my hair, "You're useless you know. Didn't tell me a thing."

He got up and kissed my forehead, "Don't worry Bella, I'll take care of you," he grinned at me, "Shall we?" I put my brush down and nodded my head, grabbing my purse. We were soon on our way in Edward's Volvo. The ride was pretty quite, and there was a lot of yawning when we first started out. Edward still didn't tell me exactly where we were going, but he told me about the small town he had grown up in, Forks. He told me all about how he had met Jacob and Seth, who lived on the nearby Reservation. As it turned out, he and Jacob had once been rivals. It was Jasper, and one of the older boys on the reservation, who had unintentionally brought them together. They had been planning dangerous pranks on each other, and Jacob and Edward had both tagged along to stop them. Things ended up in a fight and the two of them had joined together to end it, and came out friends.

When we got to Forks, Edward pointed out various inconsequential things as we drove by, like the only hotel in the whole city, indicating how small the city really was. I couldn't fathom growing up in such a small place and knowing everyone, the way Edward described. I was so used to city life, that it seemed like such a foreign concept to me. We ended up going down a dirt paved road, and we were surrounded by trees. When Edward ended up pulling off to the side and turning off the car, I was so confused.

"Oh god, you're gonna kill me and dump the body here aren't you? That's why you wouldn't tell me where we were going, you didn't want me telling anyone so they wouldn't be able to come look for me."

"What?" Edward asked, eyebrow raised, laughing at me, "Why would you think that?"

"Well we're in the middle of nowhere and there's no one around for miles, what else would you bring me here for?"

Edward shook his head, "Bella you're ridiculous. C'mon," he said getting some stuff out of the trunk, "we've got a bit of a hike."

"A hike? So you're going to force me to walk deep into the forest to my own death? What's in that basket anyway? The murder weapon?"

He let out a heavy sigh, "Ok Bella, I'll ruin the surprise. This," he wiggled the basket, "This is a picnic basket. And inside of it," he lifted the top, "Is food. For us to eat. And we are going on a bit of a hike to get to the place where we shall enjoy said food. It is one of my favorite places in all of Forks, and I want to share it with you."

I looked into the basket for myself, "Ok. I believe you. Let's go."

"Bella you are ridiculous," He shook his head at me, but led the way, "This way. Let me know if you need help, or if you want to stop or anything." I nodded my head and followed along. We went up a path I hadn't seen previously. It winded through the forest, going up a slight incline, but the way was mostly clear and easy to get through. Edward was ahead of me and he stopped, about twenty feet away. As I looked up at him, it looked as if he were glowing. Where he was standing there sun shining through an opening in the trees, he looked angelic.

"C'mon then, it's right through here," he said, offering his hand out to me. I made my way up to him, placing my hand in his. I gasped as we stepped through the clearing, it was one of the most beautiful sites I had ever seen.

"Wow," I said softly, "I wish I had my camera." Next thing I knew Edward was placing one of my smaller digital cameras in my palm. Not one of my favorites, but I was grateful to have it none the less. I gave Edward was questioning glance, a smile tugging on my cheeks.

"I grabbed it when you were in the bathroom. I thought you might want it," he answered my unasked question. I moved closer to him, my body skimming his as I pressed a kiss to his lips. It was a brief kiss, and I began snapping shots as soon as I pulled away. I could feel Edward's eyes on me, following me as I moved around. I felt exposed, I'd never really had anyone this curious about watching me work. I was oddly ok with it. I stood in the middle of the meadow, staring at all the beauty surrounding me. Edward's arms wrapped around my waist from behind.

"I thought you would like it," he whispered in my ear.

"It's beautiful," I sighed out, "I can see why it's one of your favorite places."

"It always calmed me to come here. Everything was always so peaceful, and I could just sit and get lost in all of it. Anytime I was having a hard time, I would come here. I've never taken anyone here before," he spoke softly, and I watched the various emotions cross his face.

"I," I started, "I don't know what to say. I'm honored."

Edward cupped my face in his hands, placing kisses on my cheeks, and forehead, each one causing my heart to flutter. He placed his hands on my hips, as his lips grazed mine. A soft moan came out of my throat, and he pressed down on my hips as he pulled away from me.

"We should eat," he said, sitting on the ground below. I followed his lead, as he opened up the picnic basket, handing me a bottle of water. He took out some cheese and crackers, fruit, and some meat.

"How cliché, yet very romantic," I said to him, "the only things we're missing is the wine."

He chuckled, "I wasn't sure what kind of wine you like, and I'm no good at picking it out for myself. But the thought had crossed my mind."

"Well I appreciate the thought, but water is just fine with me," I said with a giggle.

We sat and ate lunch, talking, and kissing in the sun, enjoying the afternoon. We had been there about two hours when Edward said we should get going. Knowing he was right, I agreed and we packed up and head back to the Volvo. The trip took less time getting back through the forest. The ride back to Seattle was much more lighthearted. We joked, trying to make each other laugh as much as possible. Edward brought me to Pike Place, insisting that I get my weekly shopping trip done. When we got back to my apartment Edward got a call from Jasper while we were putting away my groceries.

"Yeah," he said into the phone, "I'll ask her," then he turned to me, "Hey Bella, are you interested in coming to our place to watch a movie with Jasper and his girlfriend? Maybe get some pizza?"

I shrugged, "Sure why not? What movie is it?" He asked Jasper.

"He says he's not sure, some chick flick. He's very grateful, he doesn't want to watch it alone."

"Ok. Sounds good," I said, putting the last few things away. I heard Edward tell Jasper that we'd pick up the pizza on our way and that we would see them soon.

"Alice is very excited to meet you," Edward said, "I hope you're prepared."

"Prepared? What exactly should I be prepared for?"

Edward just laughed and shook his head, "Alice, just Alice. Be prepared. I'm not sure how to best describe her. She's quite, um, energetic."

"Energetic? Right, ok, I can handle that," I said, Edward leading us out of the apartment.

"I think you'll like her, I know she'll like you. She's very friendly," Edward explained, opening the car door for me.

"Well good, I guess. I'm looking forward to it. Should be a fun night."

"I hope so," Edward smiled at me, and we were on our way.

**Ohhh I'm excited about Bella and Alice meeting, aren't you? Thanks for reading! I love getting feedback from Reviews.**

**Also, on an unrelated note, I have a new story idea brewing. I don't know if I'll start it until I'm farther along with this one, but keep your eyes peeled.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Still not my characters, just my plot.**

When we got to Jasper and Edward's apartment I was engulfed in an energetic hug the moment I stepped through the door. I gasped, taken aback, my arms instinctively going up to protect me.

"Ohhh I'm just so happy you meet you! I just know we're going to be great friends!" A short woman, I assumed to be Alice squealed. I wasn't that tall, but I had a good four inches minimum on her. It was probably closer to six. I blinked looking down at her. She had dark black hair that was cropped short and spiked out every which way.

"Hi!" I finally stuttered out, "You must be Alice."

"Jazz wasn't kidding your eyes do look just like mine. It's like looking into a mirror," she said, letting go of me, taking a step back to inspect me properly, "Freaky," She giggled.

I really looked at her, "You're not wrong. I've never met anyone with eyes as light a shade as mine." Her skin was pale like mine and I wondered if she was able to tan or not, although with our weather almost no one tanned. She had a heart shape faced, with a very angular jaw line. Her nose was quite angular as well, but it was small and suited her well. Her lips were a pale pink that I had only ever seen on lipstick, although she didn't appear to be wearing any.

Edward and Jasper had gone off to the kitchen with the pizza as Alice and I checked each other out. We spent a much longer time staring at each other than was normal, but it wasn't awkward since we were both doing it. I had vaguely heard Edward and Jasper talking in the background, but they had since stopped and were now staring at Alice and I, waiting for something to happen.

Then Alice reached out and touched my hair, "Your hair is so beautiful," she crooned, fingering it, "I bet it get marvelous red tones in the sunlight."

"Yeah, it does," I nodded my head.

"I'm sorry about Alice," Jasper said, walking over to us, "She gets overenthusiastic. I hope Edward gave you some forewarning," he smiled, putting his hand on Alice's shoulder as he stood behind her.

She quickly turned on him, "And what are you apologizing for? There is nothing wrong with my enthusiasm. Besides," she said turning back to look at me, a smile coming across her face, "Bella and I are meant to be close. I can tell."

"I did warn her," Edward said, walking over as well, "But I still don't think she was prepared."

"You didn't do a very good job of described Alice, I was picturing an ADHD six year old in an adult body," I defended.

Alice reached over and hit Edward in the arm.

"Why do people need to be warned before they meet me anyway?" Alice asked, pouting.

"Bella's just shy is all," Edward said, "I didn't want her to be completely off guard when she met you."

"He just didn't want you to scare her away," Jasper said, "Not everyone is able to be best friends with someone when they first meet them."

Alice pouted more, "I'm not going to scare her away, and I certainly don't expect everyone to be my friend right off the bat. Bella and I are just connected some how."

Both Edward and Jasper opened their mouths to respond, but I beat them to it, "She's right."

"Bella, you don't have to humor her," Jasper said softly, "Really it's ok. It won't hurt her feelings."

"I'm not humoring her," I said, getting defensive, "She _is_ right. I feel it too." Alice beamed, and gave Jasper an 'I told you so' look. Edward shot me a questioning look, but didn't respond otherwise. It was a strange thing, but it was true. Something about meeting Alice was like being connected with a very old friend I hadn't seen in a long time.

"Well I'm hungry, let's eat some pizza!" Alice said, heading towards the kitchen. That was how the moment ended. The mood lightened almost instantly, and we all followed her lead.

Now that I wasn't the center of attention any more, I got a chance to actually look around their apartment. The layout was great, they had a huge living space, and high ceilings. They must have been ten feet high. I could have probably fit two and a half of my apartments in here, and that wasn't even counting their bedroom space. Edward noticed I was no longer right behind me, turned and came back for me, taking my hand into his.

"You're place is amazing!" I said, turning to my attention to him instead of looking around, "It's huge too!"

"Well I'm glad you like it, but if you don't get some pizza now, Jasper will hide what's left for him to eat later," Edward said, a hint of laughter in his voice. He leaned down and pecked me on the lips, guiding me over to the pizza as I continued to marvel at his home.

"So Bella," Alice began as we ate our dinner, "Jasper tells me you're somewhat of an artist."

"Well somewhat is about right. I like to take pictures, but I'm not sure I'm qualified to be an artist," I blushed.

"Well photographs are a form of art aren't they?" She asked.

"Yeah, but, I'm no professional," I said, half mumbling.

"Well you don't have to be a professional to be an artist," she said in a very matter of fact tone, "Actually most artists aren't professional."

"Besides, from what I've seen you do good work," Edward chimed in, "And you've put together some excellent arrangements."

I sank down in my chair, my cheeks burning red.

"Ohhh do you? I mean, that's a really impressive skill. A lot of photographers can take beautiful photos but can't arrange them worth a damn," Alice prattled on, "It can be hard to see the bigger picture for some people. Combining different pieces into one whole piece is in art in itself."

"Alice knows a good deal about that kind of stuff," Jasper said, "She's very into fashion. I've gotten lots of compliments since she started putting together my outfits, I have no clue about stuff like that. If she says your work is skillful, it probably is."

Alice smiled brightly, "I do like to come up with some attractive designs." She sounded quite proud of herself.

"You should see some of Bella's work," Edward directed to Alice, "After I did I asked her if she'd be interested in working on some new photo sets of the band. You two should coordinate."

Alice let out a squeal of excitement, shaking her balled up hands. I hid behind my hair, but I was smiling.

"Oh Bella that would be so great!" Alice exclaimed, and she began rapidly prattling off ideas, spouting out whatever excited idea popped into her head.

Edward and Jasper looked at each other, grinned, and then shook their heads. You could really see the brotherly bond between them in that moment of silent communication. A soft giggle sort of noise emanated from my throat. I didn't think anyone heard until Edward put his hand on my knee under the table and gave it a squeeze. I looked at him through the veil of my hair, and he reached over and cupped my chin in his hand. He titled my head upwards. He winked at me when we made eye contact and kissed my forehead.

"So what movie are we watching?" I asked as we cleaned up from dinner, "From what I heard, all Jasper said was that it was a chick flick."

"Pffft, it's not a cheesy one. It's just _Stranger Than Fiction_," Alice said, "I wanted to go out, but Jasper insisted on staying in, so I agreed, but only if I could pick the movie."

"Sounds fair," Edward said. I nodded in agreement. Jasper sighed.

"Oh c'mon Jazz, it's really not a bad movie," I said.

He sighed and we put in the movie and got settled in. Alice and Jasper cuddled up next to each other on the loveseat and Edward and I were spread out on the couch. Not long after the movie had started Alice and Jasper were wrapped up into each other, nuzzling and kissing each other. Alice occasionally let out a couple of soft giggles. I rest my head on Edwards shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me, kissing the top of my head, stroking my hair softly. I let out a happy sort of sigh, and tilted my head to kiss Edward's neck. I don't think I could have been any happier. By the time the movie was ending, both Edward and I were yawning.

"I better take Bella home," Edward said as the credits started rolling, "It's getting late."

Jasper nodded his head, and stood up yawning himself as it to confirm the fact. Alice stood up as well and stretched.

"It was really nice to meet you Bella," she said softly, giving me a hug that this time I was able to return, "I hope to see you again soon."

"Me too Alice, me too."

On the way home, Edward apologized again for Alice.

"I'm sorry I didn't prepare you better. She's so unpredictable, I didn't know what to tell you."

"Really Edward, its fine. Yes I was a little taken aback, but no harm done. Besides, I like her."

"Thank you for going along with her craziness by the way. You didn't have to say those things about your _connection_. It was nice of you though, most people don't react well to Alice's hunches."

"I wasn't going along with anything," I said firmly, "I meant everything I said. Meeting Alice ignited this spark inside of me or something. Its like we knew each other in past lives or something. I don't know how to describe it."

"Hmm," Edward mumbled, his brow wrinkled in thought, "I believe you. I mean Alice has this weird ability to sense things that are going to happen. Nothing really specific, but she gets these feelings of how things will work out I guess. The weird thing is she's usually right. Then again, she tends to be overly friendly and optimistic, so I kind of thought that it was just her exuberant personality."

"Strange. Well whatever it was, I enjoyed it. I mean she is definitely a bit overwhelming at first, but I can see us getting along very well."

"Good I'm glad," he smiled, "I'm glad you came tonight."

"Me too," I smiled back at him, "I had fun. Actually I had fun all day today. It was a really good day."

"It was wasn't it?" Edward mused, "I can't wait to do it again."

"Me either."

When Edward parked in front of my apartment building I leaned over to kiss him. One kiss turned into another, then another, and another. Our kissing turning into full fledged making out. I struggled pulling myself away from him.

"As much as I would like to continue this, I really should go in. I need to get to bed, and you need to get back home. Work in the morning and all that."

Edward let out a groan, "I know you're right, but I hate it. I could keep kissing you forever and die a happy man."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh so all you need is my kisses?"

"Bella," he whined, "Why must you ruin my flirty compliments?"

"I must have tactics to combat your charms somehow," I said, "Otherwise we'd never get anything done. Ever. I'd be too wrapped up in you."

"Fine," he grumbled, "Just one last kiss good night?"

I leaned in once more and gave him a good soft, almost teasing kiss.

"Good night Edward," I said with a smile, turning and heading to my door.

"Bella, you're killing me," I heard him half whisper before the door shut behind me and he drove off into the night.

**Thanks for reading! Reviews make excellent feedback :)**

**Also, I think I should be able to get another chapter in tomorrow (woo hoo!) so my lovely reviewers won't have to wait until Monday.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks for all the reviews guys, I really love all the support :) Also thank you to everyone who keeps adding my story to your alerts/favorites. I'm feeling very popular.**

**My plot this is, the characters are not.**

Saturday morning I was not to work earlier than Eric, however I did get there the same time that he did. This week, however, I was fully rested. I was still in a very chipper mood, and it was ticking Eric off. He apparently was not 'awake' yet and I was too much for him to handle. I tried my best to contain myself until he was more with it. I somehow ended up internally comparing myself to Alice, which half of me laughed at, and the other half scowled at. The scowling half was reprimanding myself, reminding me that I had just met her, and not to judge my new friend. The laughing half said it was good that I felt so comfortable about her to do such a thing and then the side thought of 'Well it was funny'.

"Uh, Bella, are you ok?" Eric asked, looking at me quizzically, "You look kind of constipated or something."

An obnoxious snort came out of me, which somehow ending up startling both of us. I was overtaken with hysterical laughter at that point, and Eric took a few steps back from me, his palms facing forward. He was clearly unnerved by my behavior, but as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't stop laughing. I slowly got closer and closer to the floor, doubled over, until I eventually toppled right over. I laid on my side, clutching my stomach, barrels of laughter coming out of me.

"Bella you're scaring me," Eric said, his eyes darting between me, the phone, and the door, as if he were considering calling 911 or just bolting, "Seriously, what's going on?"

"I," laughter, "need," more laughter, "water," I choked out between gasping breaths. Eric quickly dashed off, coming back with a cup of water. I grasped it the best I could in my hand, somehow managing to get a couple of sips in, before I started laughing as I tried to drink, getting water all over myself. I sat up in the fetal position and put the cup down next to me. I took deep breaths as best as I could to calm myself down. My laughter began to slowly die down and I ended up with the hiccups, but when I finally finished the water, my fit of hysteria had disappeared.

"I'm so sorry," I said between hics, "I don't know what came over me."

"I'm not gonna lie, I was really freaked out. It was like you were possessed or something," Eric said, eying my cautiously.

"I met Edward's brother's girlfriend last night," I explained the best I could, "She's _very_ energetic and bubbly, and I ended up mentally comparing myself to her this morning. Half of me thought it was rude and the other half found it amusing. There was this inner battle going on, and then I just cracked I guess." I shrugged, knowing how ridiculous the whole thing was, but I didn't have a better explanation.

Eric just kind of gave me a weird look and shrugged himself, "Whatever. Just try not to let it happen again. I don't know what I would do."

"I'll do my best," I assured him. The pastries ended up being slightly delayed that morning, but our first customer didn't come in until 6:10 and that was just for coffee anyway. Edward came in around 7:30 again. We talked for a few minutes (I didn't mention my momentary crack up) and he gave me several kisses before leaving for work. He promised to try and stop by when he got out of work.

Eric was able to get past the morning events and we had a good, smooth, morning. In fact the most interesting thing that happened was when Jess texted me.

**OMG Bells I had a brilliant idea.**

**O yea? What?**

**Double (or triple if Angie and Ben want 2 come) date 2morrow. I still haven't met Edward yet.**

**What'd you have in mind?**

**Movie maybe? Something simple.**

**Yea ok, I'll talk to him about it.**

**Unless he has a really good reason, u guys r coming.**

**Ok Jess w/e u say :P**

It actually wasn't a bad idea. Jess would get to meet Edward, but there would be other people around, plus if it was just a movie, it would be easier to leave afterwards. Besides it'd been a while since I've seen Jess. Edward did come see me again when he got out of work and I ran the idea by him.

"Sure, why not?" was his response, "Besides you've met so many more of my friends than I have of yours, it's only fair." I couldn't bring myself to tell him that he had already met most of my friends, "Any idea what movie?"

"No clue," I answered, "I didn't ask, and she didn't say. What would be a good time for you? I figure she's probably going to pick the movie, so the least we can do is pick the time."

"Early afternoon?" he suggested, "That way I can still spend time with you afterward, without taking up your homework time."

"Sounds good," I nodded my head, "Although hopefully I'll get enough done tonight that I won't have too much left. Hell maybe I'll get really lucky and have nothing left to do."

He grinned, "I would like to be able to spend more time with you. But I don't want you to rush yourself. If you need more time tomorrow, that's ok too."

_How did I get so lucky? He's not just attractive; he's really sweet, funny, and a damn good kisser. Not to mention smart, I mean without him I'd still be lost on that math. And he's so talented too. What the hell does he see in me? I mean I'm just Bella; plain old Bella._

Edward wasn't able to stay too long, we began getting busy. I gave him an apologetic smile, and he just mouthed 'call me later' at me before he left. Just after we had died down again, Rosalie showed up. She pulled a chair up so she was sitting just off to the side of the register. We talked for a while and I gave her updates about how things were going with Edward. She was happy I'd met Alice, apparently the two of them were friends. She was also smirking when I told her how great the past week had been and how well Edward and I were getting to know each other.

"I knew you two would be good for each other," she smirked, "What did I tell you? I'm good with relationships."

I just sort of smiled and giggled, assuming the question was actually rhetorical.

"So we should plan our double date for this week," she said firmly, "What's your schedule like?" I told her what times would be good for me, and she jotted them down in a little notepad she had on her. She frowned a bit, saying that she would really like to do a dinner date, but she wasn't sure it was going to work, at least not for this week. Having four people's schedules work on was no simple task. She said she would confer with Emmett and Edward and get back to me with final details. She insisted on taking care of planning the whole thing, making reservations and all. She even told me after we had the schedule down, she would be over to view my wardrobe to pick out my outfit.

Two double dates in one week? That was new for me. At least the one tomorrow wouldn't be such a big to do. I liked simple, simple was good. Jess was really excited when I had texted her back saying we could go and suggesting an early afternoon movie. I could picture her excited reaction in my head, feeling bad for Mike for having to put up with her all the time.

When I talked to Edward later that night, after my shift was over, he hadn't mentioned anything about Rose, so I wasn't sure if she had gotten to him yet or not. We solidified the plans with Jess and Mike for the following day. Edward said he would pick me up around 12:30.

After we got off the phone, I worked on my homework until I just about passed out onto it. I stopped to perform my nightly routine, and passed out as soon as my head had hit the pillow. When I woke up in the morning it was just ten. I had slept for over ten hours. When I looked at my phone I had a couple of missed calls from Edward, and a text.

**I'm guessing you fell asleep. Sorry if my calls woke you up. I hope you have a very good night and call me in the morning.**

Why did he have to be so perfect? I got up and used the bathroom, and called him while I was getting together my breakfast.

"I didn't wake you last night did I?" was the first thing he said after our greeting, "I mean you were asleep right? And not just ignoring me?"

I giggled, "Yes, I fell asleep, and no, you didn't wake me. I slept like a dead person last night. I was out for over ten hours."

"Wow."

"I know tell me about it. I can't believe I slept that much."

"You must have been really tired out."

"I guess so. I was working on my homework until I my eyes started to close. Then I resigned and went to bed."

"Well I bet you look gorgeous right now."

"Huh?" I asked really confused, "Why would you say that?"

"Because of all the beauty rest silly," He said, "In fact you were already beautiful, so with all that sleep you must look stunning, like a goddess. Maybe I shouldn't see you today, I don't want to be overwhelmed by your beauty."

"Edward you are ridiculous," I giggled, "I can vouch that I look the same as I do every other morning."

"Hmm I guess I'll just have to see for myself. Then again either way I'll be perfectly happy to look at you."

"You're making me blush."

"I like making you blush. It's cute."

"If you say so."

"I do say so. Don't you believe me?"

"I don't actually," I said, "I don't think my blushing is an attractive quality."

"Well I think otherwise."

"Well I'm glad you think so. Listen, I've got to go shower and get ready. I'll see you at 12:30?"

"You got it. I can't wait."

A smile tugged on my lips, "Neither can I. I'll see you soon."

When Edward came to pick me up, I ran to him, and threw myself in his arms, kissing him. I don't know what brought it on, but I was excited to see him. He was apparently also excited to see me, responding to my kiss, becoming entwined with me. Just as we had started to make out, he picked me up, twirled me around, and the put me down.

"C'mon," he said taking my hand in his, leading me to the Volvo, "We don't need to make a scene on the sidewalk. Let's go." Like a gentleman he helped me in and shut the door behind me. We arrived at the theater just before Jess and Mike did. Jess was quite giddy as I introduced everyone. We had some time to talk before the movie, and it was funny watching everyone interact. It was actually a lot of fun. We got our snacks and went into the theater. The movie was some comedy with Seth Rogan, I'm not even sure what. I giggled throughout the movie, not because it was terribly funny, but because of all the things Edward was whispering in my ear. I was grateful that the movie was meant to be laughed at, so none of the other people in the theater gave my noises a second thought. I began whispering back to Edward, who also began chuckling. We were getting pretty silly, and I ended up spilling some of the sprite we had been sharing on Edward. I instinctively began cleaning him off with the napkins I was hold, whispering a sorry at him, as I realized the spill had ended up in his crotch and I was now wiping his privates. Worst of all, the thought had only occurred to me when I felt the movement below my hand. The giggling stopped, and I bit my lip. I stopped cleaning, leaving the napkins where they were. My face was burning as I thought about the fact that I had just touched his penis and he had reacted to it. I looked at him as I sat up, his eyes were wide staring at me.

"I am so sorry," we whispered at the same time.

"Why are you sorry?" I whisper yelled at him.

"I didn't mean to…"he started, "That is I should have…Errr…I'm sorry."

"I was the one who spilled the drink," I reminded him, "I should have just handed you the napkins, I mean I didn't even think."

"No, it's ok," he whispered back, "I really should have stopped you or something. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't want things to get awkward between us."

"It's not your fault," I quipped back.

"Well it's not yours either," he retorted.

"Ok well I guess we're just even then."

"I don't think I'll ever stop blushing."

"Well know you know how I feel," I said, "But don't worry, I think it's cute."

"Are you mocking me?" he pouted.

"A little," I giggled softly.

I feel like Edward had been tempted to tickle me in retaliation, but couldn't in the theater, so instead he silenced me by pressing a hard, but not forceful, kiss on my lips. My mind began to wander back to the feeling of my hand brushing up against him as my eyes shut. I wished I could do it again.

**Hehehehe. Your thoughts?**

**As always, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for all the support, it keeps me going :) **

**Just the plot is mine.**

There was no more kissing for the rest of the movie. In fact other than the fact that our hands were laced together, there was no more contact for the rest of the movie. I couldn't concentrate on the movie, my mind kept going back to that moment that I had brushed his crotch. I was curious now, about how it looked and felt. What size was he? It was probably proportional right? He was rather tall….

I was drawn from my thoughts as the people around me began standing up. The credits were rolling and I hadn't even noticed. When Edward and I stood up I took a quick peek at his crotch, you know just to see if it was dry. I didn't want him to be embarrassed. Lucky it looked dry.

"Yes, it dried off," he whispered in my ear, "but you got me all sticky."

I bit my lip and was flush at the thought. When I looked at him again, he had a Cheshire Cat grin on his face, and I knew that he had intended to have that effect on me. I wanted to tell him off, but Jessica distracted me.

"I have to use the restroom. Bella?" Although her tone was questioning, I knew she expected me to go in with her to gossip. I just nodded my head in response.

"We'll wait for you two in the lobby," Mike said, as we walked out the theater going our separate ways.

By the time we got into the bathroom, Jessica couldn't contain her excitement any more. She was practically bouncing in front of me, her high pitched voice gushing about how attractive Edward is. As we were in stalls next to each other she blathered on about how charming and just fantastic he is, all things I am incredibly aware of.

"And I saw you too getting cozy in the theater," she said to me as we washed our hands, shooting me a knowing glance, "You're like love struck teenagers, I haven't seen you this into a guy before."

Normally I would be offended by being compared to a love struck teenager, but I couldn't be since I knew she was right.

"Yeah well, he's different from the other guys I've been with. He's better. It's so amazing, I mean he's way too good for me," I sighed.

"Have you sealed the deal yet?"

"No Jess! God! I haven't known him that long."

"So? You gotta stake your claim with a guy like that, before someone else comes along who will."

"Edward is not like that," I said firmly, "Besides I don't want to seem slutty."

Jess rolled her eyes, "Bella this is the twenty first century. Get with it."

I sighed again, "You know I'm not like that."

"I know. Maybe you should be this once. You know you want to anyway," she said as we exited the bathroom.

Our men were standing together, chatting. When we approached them we each received and arm wrapping around us.

"What were you two talking about?" Jess asked, ever nosey.

"Music, mostly," Mike answered, "Edward invited us to one of his shows, if you're interested, Babe."

Jessica giggled, "Okay."

Edward smiled at them and turned to me, "Rosalie texted me and informed me that unless there would be a huge problem, we are going to dinner with her and Emmett tomorrow. She said she already made reservations and to let her know ASAP if we can't go."

"Okay," I said softly.

"Are you sure? Are you going to have time for all your homework?"

"I should be alright," I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took it off silent. Rose had texted me too, "Although apparently Rose and Alice are coming over tonight to pick out my outfit." I sighed.

"Are you sure you don't want to reschedule?"

"If you don't mind coming home with me now, I can work while we spend time together."

"I can do that, but I don't want to distract you."

"Nope, you won't be distracting at all," I lied. I would be distracted enough even without him there, "Maybe you can even help."

Jessica looked at me, and raised her eyebrow, "Well I can see you two have to go. Think about what we talked about Bella." I groaned internally.

We said our goodbyes and headed back to my apartment. As we walked into the building, I thanked him again for coming with me, apologizing for ruining the afternoon fun. He said it was fine, and insisted that if anything it was Rose's fault.

"Rose is one of those girls, that once she gets an idea in her head it happens one way or another. She tends to get whatever she wants," Edward explained, "But I'm sure she'd understand if you asked to reschedule."

"Are you sure you don't want to reschedule?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "Since you've asked me about five times now if I did and my answer has been no each time."

"I'm just concerned about you, I'm fine, really. I guess I'll stop bugging you about it now," he said half pouting. I was afraid I had hurt his feelings, "I didn't stop to think that asking you would get annoying."

"It's alright," I said, and I kissed him, catching him off guard, which made me happy. I pulled away, but he pulled me right back in.

"Got any soda to spill on me?" he murmured when he did pull away again, our faces still dangerously close.

I let out a soft chuckle and kissed him again, this time with great passion. My feet had a mind of their own and began pushing us towards my bed. We tumbled down onto it, not breaking our kiss. One of my hands found its way up Edward's shirt and was resting on his stomach. Feeling his warm skin underneath my hand was magical. The other hand began caressing his side slowly. He had one hand grasping my hip and the other was tangled in my hair. Jessica's words floated through my mind, but I dismissed them, I knew I wasn't ready for that yet, and I knew Edward would be a gentleman. Just the same the heat our bodies emanated made me want to wrap ourselves around each other and get lost.

Edward pulled away and started kissing my neck, groaning softly into it, slowly making his way lower. His hand that was once on my hip, was now traveling underneath my shirt, making its way to my breasts. He hesitated a bit, but then I moved off my side to give him easier access and he eagerly continued his journey. I let out a soft moan when he reached his final destination, despite the fact that it was over my bra. I could feel his excitement against me as he fondled me, nibbling my ear.

"Can I.." he whispered softly into my ear, pushing at my bra with his hands. I nodded my head in response, looking him in the eyes. His eyes were not filled with lust as I had expected them to be. The lust was there, but that was not the only thing. I saw caring staring back at me, but this eye contact did not last long. My eyes fluttered shut as his hands grazed over my perkiness; pure skin to skin contact. He began kissing me again, which I was quite easily accepted, as he massaged and played underneath my shirt. There was a burning fire between us, lower down the bed. We moaned together as we pressed our bodies together. Then in the blink of an eye, my bra was back in place and Edward had pulled away. He was now sitting up and had look of utmost concentration on his face.

"I'm sorry, but we really have to stop," he said softly, not looking at me. I didn't respond and only just looked at him, unsure of whether to be offended or not.

"So much for not being a distraction," Edward mumbled, and I wasn't sure if he had intended for me to hear it.

I sat up myself and adjusted everything, "Yeah I guess I should get to work huh?"

He nodded his head in response. I stood up, kissing the side of his forehead, and went and sat at my desk, powering up my laptop. I heard Edward stand up as well, and the fumbling of his clothes. I knew he had plenty of his own adjustment to do.

"Can I borrow your keys? I need to grab something from my car," he said after a moment of silence.

"Sure, they're on the table by the door," I responded, still not looking at him.

"Great. I'll be back in a minute," I could hear the smile in his voice.

_What a crazy afternoon._ He was right, he really was back in a minute. He locked the door behind him as he came back in, and I did turn to look at him that time. He had a guitar case with him, and he smiled at me again.

"I figured I would play as you worked. If that's ok with you."

"That sounds fantastic actually. More than ok with me."

"Let me know if it gets distracting. I've already done enough of that today."

I nodded my head and began to type. I was copying what I had written into my notebook. That was how I edited. My handwriting was really the first draft, I made corrections as I typed it up. Edward was sitting on the couch, he had just finished tuning, and began playing softly. I wasn't familiar with the tune, but it sounded nice. He played, seemingly unendingly, each song flowing into the next one. Some of the tunes I recognized, others I didn't. Edward would softly sing a few lyrics here and there, but never whole songs. After I had typed up and proof-read the two stories I already had written, I asked Edward to read them for me. He agreed and we switched positions. I however was unable to play the guitar, so we sat in near silence, the only noises coming from my laptop.

"Those were really good," he said as he finished, turning to look at me, "I didn't notice any typos, or errors. Then again I'm no writing buff, so I may have missed something, but really it looked good to me. I really enjoyed the one about the troll."

"Thanks," I grinned, "I'm glad you like it."

"How many more do you have to do?"

"Just one. And then this week we hand them in to do peer editing and the final drafts are due next week."

"What's the last one about?" I had written the card game one, and I had also chosen to write a story using fairytale characters in a modern day situation.

"I decided to work on soup kitchen prompt, but I had no idea what to do with it. I think I want a young girl to be the focus, but other than that I've got no idea."

"Where's the prompt?" Edward asked, and I went back over to the desk, pulling the sheet out from my notebook. I scanned the page quickly, and pointed out the specific prompt. He read it to himself and let out a 'hmmm'.

"I could really do anything, but I think I want to do a sad story. That's what I think is making it difficult for me. I always want the happy ending."

"So why not do that? Why does it have to be sad?"

"I mean I guess I could do both, have it start out sad, but end on a positive note. Not full happy ending, but more optimistic. I want to do something different than I usually do. My professor wanted us to push our boundaries with this."

Edward nodded his head, "So a little girl. Maybe she's a runaway."

"That's a good idea. I had been picturing her abandoned, but maybe that was too close to home," Edward frowned at that, "So she ran away from home, and found out living on her own was too much."

"Go on," he said, "Sounds good so far."

"So she follows some people to the soup kitchen, and one of the volunteers is really nice to her," Edward nodded his head, "Tells her about fights with her parents as a teenager-or should the volunteer be male?"

"I would stick with female. She's a little girl, so she's more likely to trust another girl than a boy right?"

"Right. Good point. So she tells the little girl about fights she had with her parents as a teenager, and how she tried to be independent, but how much she struggled. But how at the end of the day, her parents were always there to support her and accept her. And then the little girl decides to go back home?"

"Sounds good, maybe start by giving a little more information about why the girl left in the first place."

"Yeah, of course, have to do that," I mumbled to myself. Edward got up to let me sit at the computer again, I was sure he saw the gears turning in my head.

He went back to his guitar playing and I began typing out the story that was forming in my head. This one would need a little extra editing, since there was no first draft. A half an hour later, I had finished. I asked Edward to read it, he of course agreed. Instead of sitting down, I paced around the apartment biting my lip as he read. This time I heard some typing here and there. I went into the kitchen and got myself a bottle of water. I sipped at it as I paced, until he was finished.

"I fixed a few typos that I saw, and I highlighted a couple of sentences that I thought could be worded better, but over all I thought it was really good. You definitely got the sad, with an optimistic ending."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you," I said pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

"You're welcome. I'm glad my music wasn't distracting, I actually got a lot done too."

"Good," I beamed, "Anything you want to share?"

"Hmmm," he said, pretending to stroke an invisible beard, "Not quite yet. Soon though."

My phone rang, interrupting the moment. It was Rose. She said that she and Alice were on their way and would be here in ten minutes. When I got off the phone, I groaned and told Edward.

"I should get going pretty quick then," he said, "God knows the two of them won't want me around for this. Then again I'm not sure I want to be around for this either."

"If you think that, maybe _I _don't want to be around either. Maybe you should take me with you," I pleaded.

He chuckled, "You're silly," he pressed a kiss to my forehead, "It will be fine. If they get too demanding of you, don't be afraid to tell them off. They may get out of hand if you don't."

"Duly noted," I said, kissing him, "Are you sure you won't stay."

"Positive," he said returning my kiss, "Call me tonight?"

"Of course," I smiled at him. We kissed once more, and he was out the door.

I had all of two minutes alone before Rose and Alice showed up. Thankfully, they brought Chinese food. I hadn't realized I was even hungry until I smelled it and my stomach started to growl. Rose and I took the food out of the bags and were setting up for our dinner, while Alice went straight for my closet. I heard her making a few 'tut' noises and internally groaned. Rose asked me how things had been going with Edward and I, and after every little thing I told her, she pushed for more details.

"I have to know what I'm working with Bella!" was her explanation.

"Yes," Alice agreed, "Being thoroughly prepared is key. That requires complete understanding of the situation."

This groan wasn't so internal, "You guys are going to be the death of me. What makes you think I can't handle things on my own?"

"Now Bella," Rose began, "No one said that. We're just here to help you. Smelling like coffee on a fancy date is not a good thing."

"You just need a little boost to help you show yourself off," Alice added, "You're simply beautiful and the world needs to know."

"The world?" I blanched.

They ignored me and began planning the night and my outfit as we ate dinner.

"I'm not doing anything that I'm uncomfortable with," I said quite firmly, "So you can get any ideas of stilettos out of your head now."

"Fine," Alice grumbled, "I can find another way to show off your legs."

"Nothing too short!" I demanded.

"Of course not," Rose chimed in, "We're going to a _nice_ restaurant. We will not having you looking like some kind of whore."

"Don't worry about it Bella, you will look elegant and classy," Alice added, "We'll take good care of you."

"Then why am I so nervous?"

After dinner Alice showed Rose all the clothes she had taken out of my closet that had been deemed worthy. The two of them had me stand there as the held up various outfit options, Rose holding my hair in different styles for each one. They had me try on a few pieces that they thought might be winners. Eventually they had decided on a black pencil skirt that hit just above my knee and a pair of silver kitten heels. Apparently none of my tops were good enough, but Alice swore she had the perfect one that she would bring tomorrow, and Rose had some silver hair combs for my up do. They both promised to be here by 4:30 tomorrow to prepare.

After they were done picking out my outfit, they looked around my apartment, really for the first time. Alice was impressed by my work, just as Edward had been. Rose complained about the size of my apartment, but agreed that I had done a good job with the space I had. We had fun relaxing for a while, and just talking. It felt much better now that I wasn't the center of attention and they weren't treating me like a dress up doll. It was nice having girl time, like this. Angela, Jess, and I didn't get much time to do it anymore. They left around nine thirty, which I was grateful for since I had to get up early for work in the morning.

I called Edward when I had gotten settled into bed, and told him about what had happened after he had left. He told me that he had been inspired when he got home and that he finished one of the songs he had been working on. He promised he would play it for me soon. After we got off the phone, I fell asleep listening to the sound of the raining that began falling.

My day at work went by quickly. Laurent and I had picked up our joking where we had left off last week. It was nice to have my work friend again. We still weren't close to hanging out outside of work as we had been, but we were in a good place together. I think deep down we both knew that we wouldn't get back to that point, and we were ok with that. When I got home, I had time to take a nice long shower. I put on some underwear, and threw on my bathrobe, knowing Alice and Rose wouldn't be too long.

Having them get me ready wasn't as painful as I had thought. The top Alice had brought was light blue, and looked really good on me. I wasn't too thrilled with the fact it was made out of silk however. I was nervous about ruining it, but Alice assured me I would be fine. Rose put my hair up, but I had some tendrils hanging down. The two of them did my make-up, which I insisted that they not put on too much. Alice assured me that they wouldn't, because I had such beautiful skin anyway. When I looked in the mirror when they were done with me, I was taken aback. I looked _amazing_, I barely recognized myself. I couldn't even formulate the words to express my thanks to them.

"You don't need to speak Bella," Alice had said, "We know how good you look, and we know that you're grateful for our hard work. Just next time don't be so stubborn."

Rosalie was wearing a deep purple ruched dress, and she looked stunning. Her prep timpulled upe was much less than mine, I guess she was more used to dressing up like this than I was. We dropped Alice off at Edward and Jasper's, where ironically, Edward was not home. He had gone to pick up Emmett and the two of them were meeting us at the restaurant.

When we pulled up, they were waiting for us outside. They were both wearing suits, but I was too distracted by Edward to really notice Emmett. He looked damn good dressed up like that, and I began fantasizing about ripping his clothes off and having him ravage me. Rose and I were each pulled in close and kissed, which only furthered the wild ideas going through my mind. I was however, distracted when I was introduced to Emmett.

"Bella, this is Emmett, Alice's brother," Rose introduced.

"I didn't know Alice had a brother," I said, shaking his hand. He was big. Really big. He was wide, and I bet under those clothes he was covered in muscles. He had dark curly hair, although it wasn't quite as dark as Alice's. If he hadn't had such a kind face as he smiled at me, I would have found him intimidating.

"Twin, actually," He said, "It's really great to meet you Bella, I've heard good things, although apparently you have heard less about me."

"It's nice to meet you as well," I said, "And your right, I haven't heard much about you. But isn't it better that way? Then you get to make your own first impression."

"That's what I'm afraid of," he laughed.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Emmett can be a bit childish sometimes, but ignore it," she said to me, "Well, let's go in shall we?"

She locked her arm with Emmett's and walked into the restaurant. Edward offered me his arm, and we followed them in, where Rose was already giving the host our reservation.

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to let me know what you think with a review :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow! Thanks for all the reviews! I've gotten a huge boom in responses lately, thank you to each of you who has taken the time to do so.**

**Still just own the plot.**

We were seated quite promptly. The table was in a private area in the back, the nearest patrons were a few tables away, and they were talking quietly to themselves and didn't even seen to notice our presence. The restaurant was the fanciest place I'd ever been in. I actually felt a bit uncomfortable just being here. Thankfully, I had nothing in my mouth when I looked over the menu, because otherwise I would have chocked at the prices. I would never be able to afford food like this. Still, I tried to maintain my composure, and not stick out like a sore thumb here. I wanted to have a good night out with my boyfriends and our friends. Well I didn't really know Emmett yet, but I liked Rose just fine and I doubted I would really dislike him that much. Edward seemed to like him well enough, and I actually hadn't heard anyone say a bad word about him. I mean except for Rose, calling him childish right now. Actually didn't she call him an idiot or something the first time I met her too? Well that didn't really count, so I was going to maintain my no bad words against him idea. When the waiter came back for our drink orders, I realized I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I had paid no attention to the menu whatsoever, and I hadn't even realized that everyone else had been conversing.

"What do you think you're going to get Bella?" Rose asked me, I think more to draw me in than actually caring what I was going to order.

"I-I have no idea," I stuttered, "I don't even know where to start with this menu. It's practically foreign to me."

"You're telling me," muttered Emmett, "I'd be just as happy to grab a burger."

Rose rolled her eyes, "You have no class. I recommend the pomegranate chicken, it's delicious. The cabbage that comes with it is good too, and I don't usually eat red cabbage. Oh and their salads are also quite delicious. They're massive too."

"They really do have good food," Emmett added, "I'm just not a fancy kind of guy. I only agree to come to these places because Rosie looks so damn good dressed up." The pair just grinned at each other. It was kind of sweet.

"How about you?" I turned to ask Edward, "What are you gonna have."

"I'm thinking about the filet mignon. Although the roast lamb sounds good too. They are just too many delicious sounding options that I could never dream of cooking myself."

"I bet you could if you practiced enough," I teased, "I'm sure you could find someone to eat the first attempts."

He chuckled, "I imagine I could convince Jazz to try it, at least the first couple of times. He might learn his lesson after that."

"Well I'm going for the porterhouse," Emmett declared, "Can't go wrong with red meat."

"Tell that to your colon," Rosalie murmured under her breath.

"I'm definitely going for the roast lamb, I almost never have lamb," Edward decided.

"I'm thinking about the mushroom stuffed spinach ravioli," I mused. It sounded good, however I would be lying if I said I wasn't considering the price as well.

"Ohh the one with the goat cheese?" Rose asked, "I've never had that, but I've considered it," she sighed, "Everything I've had here is good. Everything sounds good. Too many choices."

The waiter came shortly after and we placed our orders. My mouth began to water in anticipation. I felt like a Pavlovian experiment. Our conversation became a series of teasing back and forth, reminiscent of the night of the concert. I didn't feel awkward for a moment, despite the fact that I hadn't known any of them as long as they'd known each other.

When our dinner came, I asked a question I had been curious about since I first laid eyes on Emmett, "So how did you two meet?"

"Well," Rose began, "Alice and met at girl scouts when we were about seven, and we became good friends. After I got over the whole cooties thing, I had the biggest crush on Emmett."

"She would try to follow me around when Alice wasn't paying attention. She would sneak into my room and steal my G.I. Joes so I would have to chase her all over to get them back. I didn't realize until we were older what was going on. I just thought of her as my sister's annoying friend."

"When I was older, I'd tried to flirt with him, but that totally backfired."

"It was _awful_, I had no idea she was trying to flirt with me. I always thought she and Alice were plotting a prank and she was the bait or something."

"After that I tried the hard to get thing. That worked a little bit, he paid me a little more attention, but it still wasn't enough."

"I thought there was something wrong with her," he shrugged, "She had never been shy like that before."

"I had given up, and it wasn't until high school that he final noticed me for something other than Alice's friend. All because of a stupid motorcycle."

"It was more than the motorcycle," Emmett grinned, "I noticed you before that, but it was weird thinking that my sister's friend was hot," he laughed.

"Well _anyway_," Rose went on, shaking her head, "This kid Riley had gotten this motorcycle, and somehow this idiot convinced him to let him 'test drive' it," she said using air quotes.

"Long story short, I crashed it. It wasn't anything major, but I didn't have the money to fix it and I sure as hell didn't know how to fix it myself. I knew if I had asked my parents they would have flipped, so I was screwed."

"Luckily, I know a thing or two about mechanics. I offered to fix it for him, which he was totally skeptical on, but he had no other options so he eventually agreed to let me check it out."

"How was I supposed to know she was practically a grease monkey? Rosie doesn't exactly come off as the automotive type right?"

I just nodded my head in response, completely amused by the story.

"So anyway, after I fixed it, and Emmett was so excited that he kissed me."

"I was so embarrassed, I started apologizing like a buffoon."

"Then I said the least he could do after all that was take me out to dinner. And the rest is history," Rose smiled, taking Emmett's hand into hers on the table.

"Best crash I've ever been in," Emmett mirrored her smile, looking at her lovingly. It was really so sweet.

"That's so sweet guys. Although I feel like that story has been practiced before," I said.

"Oh yes," Edward chimed in, "They've perfected it over the years."

"Well the opportunity keeps presenting itself," Emmett shrugged, "And it sounds a hell of a lot nicer this way."

"That's for sure," Rose said, "He kept telling people I was Alice's only hot friend, or that he was the one who showed me about the bike. I had to make it better," I laughed at that, "Maybe one day you can tell the story of how Eddie boy stalked you at the coffee shop you work at," Rose said to me with a smirk. I choked on the ravioli in my mouth.

"Don't call me Eddie boy," Edward glared at Rose, after making sure I was alright, "And I didn't _stalk_ her, per say." That last part was much softer than the rest of what he said.

I couldn't respond and just chugged some of my water, my face the color of a tomato.

"Bella, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were embarrassed," Emmett said grinning, "And that you don't actually like people discussing your personal life."

Despite my still flush face, I grinned, "I have no idea what gave you that idea."

Everyone had a good laugh at that. Soon we were onto dessert, I was going to decline, but Rosalie insisted we all have something. Looking over the dessert menu wasn't any easier than the dinner menu had been. I ended up getting a slice of lemon cheesecake, and Edward got the Tiramisu. I had no idea what Emmett and Rose got, the two had dissolved into each other. In fact we didn't get their attention again until Edward and I were sharing our desserts. While I had simply offered him my plate to help himself, he fed me a forkful of his. It was oddly sensual and not to mention delicious, and I unconsciously let out a moan.

"Well then," said Emmett a playful smirk on his face, "I don't have to ask how your dessert is."

When the waiter came back with the bill, Rose snatched it up before anyone could even look at it, promptly put her card in it, and handed it back to the waiter. We all just stared at her in disbelief.

"Don't even say a word and just accept it," she said to us, "I see nothing wrong in treating my friends."

"Well okay then," said Emmett.

"Thank you Rose," I said softly.

"You're welcome Bella, I hope you enjoyed it."

"I did. It was a great night. And the food was delicious. I don't think I ever want to eat again."

Edward thanked Rose for a wonderful night as we left the restaurant. Edward held my hand as we walked to his car. He opened my door and helped me in before he got in again. Before he even put the keys in the ignition he leaned over and kissed me very softly, and then kissed my neck, making my eyes flutter shut. I stretched naturally, encouraging the action, but he pulled away.

"I never got a chance to tell you how very beautiful you look tonight," he said very softly.

"Well you can thank all of Alice and Rose's hard work."

"I really don't think they had anything to do with you. You're beautiful on your own."

"I'm really nothing special. Especially not compared to Rose. Or you," I mumbled.

"Rose has nothing on you, I assure you. And I don't know how you could possible be comparing me to you. You're ridiculous."

"If you say so."

"You really don't see your beauty do you?" I didn't respond, "Well trust me, you're simply gorgeous."

"Thank you," I said softly. I guess he decided that was as good as he was going to get because he started the car and we headed home.

"I know Rose can be a bit overdone, but did you have a good time tonight?"

"I did," I said truthfully, "It was really nice. I mean I wouldn't want to be that fancy every day, but it was nice for one night. The food was really delicious, I'm so full."

"Me too," he nodded, "I'm looking forward to getting out of this suit and to something comfy."

"Oh I can't wait to take this off myself," I said gesturing to my outfit.

Edward's eyes darted back and forth between me and the road, stuttering to himself. Then I realized he was probably picturing me naked, because that was basically what I said. I put my hand to my mouth, and snickered to myself.

"I, errr, I'm looking forward to bed. In my jammies," I clarified.

"Uh, yeah. Um. Me too," Edward said. And then I just burst out laughing. It really startled Edward, and it was good thing no one was directly in front of us because we would have crashed as he turned to stare at me. I don't think he knew what was going on, but he started laughing too, and neither of us could stop. It was as if we had been drugged.

When we got to my apartment, I was torn. I wanted him come in and stay for a while, but we both had places to be in the morning. Beyond that, I wanted him to be comfortable and it wasn't as if I had something he could change into.

"Can I walk you up?" he asked after we had sat there for a moment, unmoving.

"I'd like that."

It was a brief interaction; he walked me up, we kissed, he called me beautiful, we said goodnight. As he disappeared down the stairs, I went over to my window and watched him leave. I got my make-up off, got out of my clothes, taking special care with Alice's shirt, and was out pretty quickly, falling asleep to thoughts of how good Edward looked in that suit.

**Thanks for reading! I'm feeling inspired, so maybe another chapter tonight, but I'm not promising anything.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks for the reviews.**

**I don't own the characters, just the plot.**

The next day, Rose surprised me at lunch. She wanted to go over last night's date. She told me how much Emmett had enjoyed meeting me, and how well the two of them thought Edward and I fit together. She tried to get me to strategize about my dating future, but I insisted that this point I was going to go with the flow, and if we hit a snag, then I would consult her. She reluctantly agreed.

"I just don't want to see either of you getting hurt," she sighed.

"Yeah, I don't want to go through that again," I said softly.

"You had a bad relationship too?"

"What do you mean too?"

"Well Edward has a bit of a history himself. His last serious girlfriend, Tanya, well it didn't go well. She had been far more interested in him from the get go. I won't get too into it, it's really his story, but it was a mess. What happened to you?"

I sighed, "Well my ex, James, ended up cheating on me. One of my coworkers that I was friends with, Laurent, had set us up. At first, it was great. Well he seemed to really like me. He would always give me tons of attention, which I wasn't used to. He was a real charmer. He started getting really demanding. We always had to do what he wanted to do. At first he would pretend to compromise with me to get what he wanted, but in the end he would have fits if I would refuse to do what he wanted. We started fighting a lot and he started getting distant. Eventually I found out he had cheated on me with this girl Victoria and we broke up."

Rose nodded her head, "What an asshole. Well I know nothing like that would happen. I'm just more concerned about one of you falling too fast."

I nodded my head softly. I didn't know what to say to that. It was a possibility, but was she referring to me or Edward. Probably me. Then again, if it were to happen, I knew there would be nothing I could do to stop it. After we moved on from the topic of my relationship, we made plans for a girls night out on Friday. The band had a show Saturday night and we taking the evening to rehearse, since Edward had to work Saturday morning as usual. Rose texted Alice, who agreed eagerly, and she said she would text Leah and Kate to see if they were interested as well.

When I got to work that afternoon, I told Angela about my conversation with Rose. Angela was much more in the opinion of letting the chips fall where they may, and didn't see the need to calculate out the relationship.

"So what if you fall in love? It is better to have love and lost than to never have loved at all right?"

"True, but who wants to suffer the pain of unrequited love?"

"I have seen you with that boy before, I sincerely doubt that will happen."

When I mentioned the girls night plan I had with Rose and Alice, Angela got excited, and decided we would have a girl's night of our own. I would have invited her along, but I knew she had her standing Friday night date with Ben. That was a long standing tradition between the two from when they had started dating. It all steamed from Ben's paranoia that Angela would go out on dates with other guys if they weren't together. We planned for Thursday night, with Jess and Lauren. I wasn't a huge fan of Lauren, and would never hang out with her if it weren't for Jess. The two were close and Lauren was dating one of Mike's friends. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way, and I could only ever handle her in small doses, but I hadn't seen her in a while. We decided to dinner and mani/pedis. I'm not a real girly girl, and I don't get my nails done often, but I was actually looking forward to it.

The rest of our shift was really kind of dull. One of our regulars brought in her new puppy to show us, which is completely against company policy, but we allowed just the same. The puppy was gorgeous and we had very few customers, so we indulged ourselves playing with it for a few minutes. When she left we both thoroughly washed our hands of course. I'd always wanted a dog growing up, hell I still wanted a dog, but I did not have the time, money, or space for one now. Maybe one day, when I was out of school and had a real job, and lived in a larger place I'd reconsider. Anyhow, other than the puppy, nothing exciting happened. Edward didn't even stop in. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't get to see him, but he had said he might not be able to. It was all dependent on whether or not Seth could get the night off for band practice. I guessed that he had when by 6 Edward hadn't showed up.

When I got home, I immediately sat down to start reading some of my classmates' short stories. Originally, I had thought that were trading our stories with a partner to do peer review, but he insisted we had a chance to evaluate all of them. Feedback was always a good thing that you could never have too much of in his book. So he went off and copied everyone's stories for the whole class. So I had seventy eight short stories to edit before next Tuesday. He had however put us in small groups, and our group mate's stories were priority. Our Thursday class we would be getting together to verbally go over the stories to get an idea of how much editing we needed to do ourselves. What a mess.

Around 9, I got a text from Edward.

**Sorry I didn't get to visit. Are you busy now?**

**Just doing some homework. Have to read/edit a shit ton of short stories.**

**Want to take a dessert break? **

**Hmmm, what'd you have in mind?**

**I'll take that as a yes. I'll see you in twenty.**

When I came home from work I had changed into sweats and a loose tee shirt. I briefly considered changing and then decided that Edward would not be taking me anywhere fancy and I doubted he would care what I was wearing all that much. Besides, I justified to myself, I didn't look ratty or anything. There were no holes in my shirt, and I'd seen other girls out in similar sweat pants before. I even was still wearing a bra. I continued reading, and half an hour later, Edward showed up.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, giving me a kiss as I met him at the door, "I stopped home to change, I couldn't stand being in my work clothes any longer." He was wearing sweat pants too. I grinned.

"No problem, I hadn't even noticed," I said, heading towards his car, "So where are we going?"

"Nowhere we need to drive," he said grabbing my arm, pulling me back towards him softly. Clumsy me tripped and flew right into him, accidentally head butting him in the chest.

"God, I'm sorry!" I said, pulling my hands up to my face as I gasped, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Edward said with a cough, "I'm alright. Just got the wind knocked out of me," he rubbed his chest where I had bumped him.

"I'm glad you're alright," I said, my muscles relaxing. I hadn't even notice how tense I'd gotten, "And it's good to know I can take your breath away."

"Oh ha ha," he said, wrapping an arm around me and walking down the street. We ended up going to an ice cream parlor a couple of streets down from me. There was no one there except the two employees, and we were clearly their last customers of the day. We got cones to go so they wouldn't have to dirty one of their freshly cleaned tables. We walked slowly, strolling really, going through the park across from my apartment. I snuck a couple of licks from Edward's cone, and it ended up turning into a competition. We ended up getting ice cream all over our faces, but we were having a good time. After we finished the ice cream, we went up to my apartment to clean up. Edward opted to use the kitchen sink so I could use the bathroom, so that neither of us had to wait for the other.

"So how are those stories you were reading?" he asked, sitting down on my couch.

"Some of them are good. Some of them are not so good. Some are so bad they're funny."

"Oh really? Like what?"

So I told him about the story that I had read about the three little pigs hooking up with the three blind mice, and I actually read a few lines from the story of the knight who instead of battling the evil witch played her in a game of poker. We had some good laughs, and I told him about some of the stories with better plot lines. He told me about his night at band practice, and how Jacob and Seth had gotten into a fight about whether or not he should count them in by three or four. We had both been yawning for a long time before we stopped talking. My eyelids felt droopy, and I could see the bags under Edward's eyes.

"Well I should probably get going. It's so late," he said somewhere around one a.m.

"It is really late," I said, "Maybe you should stay." _Where did that come from?_

"You want me to stay?"

"I mean it's so late, and you look so tired. I don't want you falling asleep on your drive home."

Edward was quite for a moment, contemplative.

"You're already in sweats right? So it's not like you'll be uncomfortable sleeping."

"True," he mused, "I guess it's not a bad idea. I can sleep on the couch."

"Please," I nearly snorted, "We've already past this barrier. I don't mind sharing the bed. I won't bite, I promise."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure," I nodded in confirmation, "I am however going to change."

He said ok and I grabbed some shorts to sleep in and headed to the bathroom. I swapped my sweats for the shorts and took off my bra, deciding the tee shirt was fine to sleep in.

"Hey what time do you need to get up in the morning?" Edward called from the living room as I was brushing my teeth, "I don't want to inconvenience you."

"Um I usually get up around ten," I called, spitting into the sink, "I don't have work until the afternoon."

"Good," he said, "Me too."

I climbed into bed and patted the spot next to me, realizing that Edward had been staring at my ass in the shots when I walked past him.

"Do you mind if I take my shirt off? I won't if it will make you uncomfortable."

"No that's fine," I said snuggling in.

I couldn't help but stare at him as the shirt was lifted over his head. If he was going to check me out I had every right to return the favor. He looked damn good, the outline of his muscles was a nice site to see. He wasn't ripped, he didn't have a super defined six pack or anything, but he was _very_ nicely toned. He slid into bed next to me, and I was sad to turn off the light. We cuddled up together, exchanging a few soft kisses, and I fell asleep in his arms.

**Just twenty or so minutes shy of same day posting, in my time zone anyway. Too bad I missed giving this 'gift' on Edward's birthday, right Candi?**

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks to all who reviewed, I'm glad you're all enjoying the story :)**

**The characters are not mine.**

Sleeping with Edward was some of the best sleep I've ever gotten. He was warm, but not too warm, and he didn't move around too much in his sleep. I felt safe and cared for, especially since I woke up to him kissing my face. He even apologized for waking me and said he just couldn't resist, once gain telling me how beautiful I am. I volunteered to make pancakes for breakfast, which he gladly accepted. I offered Edward use of my shower, but he declined saying he would shower when he got home. If I could whistle, I would have been while I was making breakfast. I was in such a good mood, it was as if my body was buzzing- I felt high.

Even after Edward left everything was all rainbows for me. I was still quiet giddy even while I went back to reading the short stories. When it hit noon, I decided it was about time for me to take a shower, having to go into work in two hours. I didn't want to eat a full lunch; I pecked at some fruit and bread until I was satisfied. My morning's good mood had actually been quite beneficial in terms of my homework, I had gotten a good amount of editing done. I decided that if I were lucky I would be feeling productive when I got to work, but in the meantime decided to take a break. I hopped on my computer, and began going through some of my photo albums. I smiled at the picture I had snuck in of Edward from our trip to the meadow. Knowing from experience that candid shots almost never came out very good looking, I was quite pleased with this shot. He wasn't looking at the camera, but he was smiling. It wasn't an obvious smile, it was a secret sort of happiness. I mentally equated it to Mona Lisa. Everything about it screamed Edward at me. Almost on whim I emailed it to the drugstore photo department, near Java Juice, so I'd be able to pick up a print of it later.

The rest of my day, as well as the next day, past by pretty quickly, with nothing eventful happening. Then it was girls night number one. Angela and I left from work, meeting Jess and Lauren for dinner. We ate quickly, partially because we were hungry, partially because it was getting late and we wanted to be sure we got to the salon on time. There were only two pedicure seats, so Angie and I got our fingers done first, while Lauren and Jessica got their pedicures. Angela had gone for a light pink color, I opted for a more natural color, with just a hint of orange. When we switched, I saw that Jess had gone for a dark blue, and Lauren a purple. The massage chair felt amazing, I felt like I was melting into a puddle. That was all ruined however, when they began working on my feet. Not only am I very ticklish, but they tried to file down the thick skin on the top of my foot I'd developed from walking on my feet. I began arguing with the Korean lady who was working on me, and finally I agreed to let her take off the first few layers of dead skin. It was just enough that it looked a little nicer, but I would still have some extra padding left. Angela just rolled her eyes at me, Jess called me ridiculous, and Lauren said it was disgusting. I went off on a speech about how it was there for a reason, and my feet were going to get hurt if I didn't have it there. Jess just said it would come back and I should just have pretty feet for a few days.

I was plenty fine parting ways after we finished up at the nail salon. Jess and Lauren went home, Angie came with me. She insisted that she wasn't tired and wanted to have a sleep over. We drank wine, ate chocolate, and watched Finding Nemo. I loved children's movies, despite the fact that I was now an adult I still found them magical. When the movie ended, Angie told me she had an idea and that I had to go take a shower. Normally I would have questioned her, but the wine was making things kind of fuzzy, so I did as she asked. When I came back out of the bathroom, dressing in my PJs, Angela sat me down on the floor in front of the couch. She sat behind me, and brushed my hair. It actually felt very nice. She gave me a French braid and told me I was not allowed to take it out until the following night. Soon after she was finished, we fell asleep. We shared the bed, just as we had done when we were younger.

The next morning, Angela and I shared bagels and coffee, and she left after breakfast. I changed into my outfit for the day, thankful for the French braid. For our date today, I was taking Edward biking on some of my favorite spots throughout the city. I shouldn't get any funky looking helmet hair with the braid, and I looked pretty cute with it. Edward showed up around eleven, and confirmed the fact that I looked good. He however looked ridiculous in a pair of bike shorts. I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"What?" he questioned, "Jasper told me that since you bike everywhere, you're probably really good and I should be prepared for anything."

"Edward, I'm taking you casual biking. I don't even own bike shorts. Yes, I bike around everywhere, but it's not like biking for sport. It's transportation. I mean, I've never raced or anything. And I've only ever mountain biked a handful of times."

"So I would have been fine with just my regular clothes?" I nodded my head, "I'm gonna kill Jasper. I told him you would have told me if I needed anything special."

"Well c'mon we'll stop at your place first so you can change. I mean unless you want to look like that. I certainly don't mind the view, but I'm sure that you will earn some unwanted stares."

Edward blushed. It wasn't obvious like mine was, just a slight tinge of red along his cheek bones. I didn't say anything about it, but I did secretly want to get a picture of it. We rode to his place, rather quietly; I enjoyed the sun on my skin and the wind on my face. We certainly lucked out weather wise. It had been the typical Seattle, overcast, rainy on and off, all week. Edward changed and we were on our way. I pointed out some cool things I had noticed on my rides, as well as giving him typical tour guide information. We stopped for lunch at an outdoor café I had never been to. We each got a panini and we sat for a while before we were on our way again. I didn't want to keep Edward out too long, I knew he didn't bike as often as I did, and I didn't want him to get hurt from riding too long. We got back to his apartment around four. Edward felt the need for a shower, so I hung out, watching TV as I waited for him. He was quite quick, and snuck up on me when he was out. His hair was still all wet and he dripped all over me. I was mad, but not too mad that I couldn't laugh at the situation. Just the same, through my laughter I was pushing him away. I wasn't able to stay too long, I had to head back to my apartment where Alice was picking me up for girls night number two. I changed when I got home, I hadn't gotten too sweaty, but still felt the need for a change of clothes.

Alice came by promptly at six and we were at Rose's before six thirty. When we got there, she was busy kicking Emmett out. He was whiney, and apparently quite jealous that we were spending the night with Rose and he wasn't allowed.

"So my sister and Bella are better company than me?"

"Yes, we both know you're only good for the sex, now leave."

"You're _killing_ me Rosie!"

"Bye brother!" Alice called, cheery as ever, waving at him.

Grumbling Emmett got into his car and left as we went inside. I'd never been to Rosalie's apartment before. It was open and brightly decorated. She had a loft bedroom, which I didn't go up to look at properly, but from what I could see, it had a romantic appearance.

"I'm gonna be paying for that sex comment all night," Rose sighed, "I'm surprised he hasn't sent me a picture of his junk yet."

"Eww Rose, not something I want a mental image of," Alice said, "How would you like it if I started talking about your brother's penis."

"Ali, you know I'm an only child," Rose rolled her eyes.

"You know what I meant!" Alice countered, "You don't want to hear me talk about Jazz like that."

Rose blanched, "Fine, fine, no more sex talk."

I giggled silently, happy to be the bystander and this situation, for once grateful to not have true family members.

"Your hair is coming out by the way," Rose said to me, "I'm sad I missed seeing it, I'm sure it looked beautiful when it was first done. I never learned how to French braid."

"I'm not surprised it is, Angela did it for me last night and Edward and I biked around town today."

"Ohhh you should take it out," Alice practically squealed, "It will look great all wavy."

So the night began with the two of them taking down my hair. Rose ordered a pizza, and we put on _Ghost_. After the pizza, the two of them did each other's nails. They had been quite bummed to find out I had gone to get a mani/pedi without them. Just the same, I helped them out, unscrewing the bottles of polish, remover at the ready for any potential messes. They were horrified to find out I had never seen _Love Story_ so as soon as their nails were dry, Rose put it on and we passed around a tub of Ben and Jerry's. I was getting tired when the movie was over, but Alice wouldn't take me home until we played a 'quick' round of Truth or Dare. It should have been silly fun, but once Alice reminded Rose of the no sex talk policy, they realized they were going to have to come up with different strategies. I was grateful for the tame game, perhaps it really would be quick.

"So Bella," Alice started, "I'm going to assume you're going to say truth since you haven't said dare yet, am I right?" I nodded my head, "So what was the most rebellious thing you did to your parents when you were in high school?"

"Oh," I said taken aback. I had assumed that Jasper had told her I was an orphan, "Well I don't have parents. It's kind of hard to be really rebellious when your foster parents can drop you at any moment if they don't want to deal with you anymore. I smoked a cigarette once. It was gross and I haven't done it since."

"Wait you don't have parents?" both Rose and Alice said in response.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't know. Jasper found out the first night I met him. I figured he would have told you."

"No, he didn't," Alice said softly, "I'm so sorry, I just assumed…. I never would have asked if I had known."

"It's fine, really, it's not a big deal. It's what I'm used to. It's all I know."

"Shit Bella," was all Rose could say. It seemed there was so much more that she had wanted to say, but she couldn't find the words.

"Really, it's ok. I promise. If anything I'm sorry you guys found out this way," I said, desperately trying to clear the tension in the air.

"Bella, don't worry about it," Alice said, "I think we're just a little shocked is all."

"Do you mind if I…." Rose began.

"Ask away," I said, knowing what usually came after people finding out about my past.

"You didn't try to find your parents when you turned eighteen?"

"No I did," I said, "I got my file, and went through it, but there was nothing. My birth certificate didn't have it. I was dropped off by a nurse the day I was born, and she bolted, leaving me with nothing but the name Isabella. I'm not even sure if that's what my parents named me or if she just named me that."

"Wow," Alice said softly, "So you know nothing about your family?"

"Basically," I shrugged, "It used to bother me, but not so much anymore. I mean it is what it is and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Geez Bella," Rose said, "I can't imagine living life like that. I can't believe no one ever adopted you."

"I guess I was a weird kid," I shrugged, "Honestly, I'm grateful I think. I mean I have nothing else to compare it to, but I love my life. For years I wished for a family, and never got one, and then I realized that my friends were my family, and that was all I needed."

We talked about it for a little while longer, Alice and Rose were of course curious, and I had to keep reassuring them that I was fine and that none of it was crossing any weird boundaries. Eventually Alice realized how much I was yawning and took me home, apologizing for keeping me out so late. She knew I had to work in the morning. She told me that if I needed a nap when I came home from work, just to let her know and she'd pick me up a little later for the concert. I thanked her and fell promptly to sleep when I got to my bed.

**Thanks for reading!**

**Also, I think I'll be starting my new story soon, so I'll keep you updated about that.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks for the reviews guys!**

**I don't own the characters, just the plot.**

I overslept and I was almost late for work. Eric wasn't really surprised, nor was he mad, but I apologized like I had done something terrible to him just the same.

"I'm so sorry. It was my stupid alarm clock, I hit snooze on it and it didn't go off again, the button got stuck, and then I didn't wake up for another twenty minutes, I got here as fast as I could," I babbled.

"Bella, chill," Eric said, "It's ok. You know I would have called you if there was an issue."

We ended up being incredibly busy for most of the day, which was nice because it made my shift go by quickly. When four o'clock rolled around I was out the door. I did decide a quick nap was not a bad idea. I texted Alice to let her know I was planning on being ready just after six. After my nap, I took a shower and got ready for the evening. I settled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a purple and blue striped short sleeve shirt that was ruched on the sides to show of my figure. I threw on some sterling silver jewelry to give myself a little shine. I was just pinning my hair back when Alice showed up.

"No," she said, walking in, "You cannot wear that shirt with your nails like that. They clash far too much."

She proceeded to go through my clothes, clearly on the hunt for something. She let out an 'ah-ha!' and threw a fuchsia top at me. It was a flow-y boat neck, and Alice made me change into a black bra. She said having the black straps showing would be alluring. I knew better than to argue with her, and just did what she said.

"There, much better. And you can keep on the jewelry, it goes quite nicely. And leave your hair down, it's good just the way it is."

We headed to the bar that they were playing at, and found Emmett and Rose at a table. The four of us were soon joined by Leah and Kate, who apologized for missing out on our girls night. Last night seemed so far away, and on top of that I had completely forgotten that they had even been invited, so I just smiled and nodded as they assured us they would make it next time. Someone put a beer in front of me and I gladly began sipping it. The bar was busy, and the stage was set up, but no sign on the band. Music was playing over the speakers and people were dancing in the open space in the middle. After sitting and chatting for a bit, Alice decided it was our turn to participate, and she and Rose tried to drag me from my seat, which I was vehemently against. I stood no chance, however, when Emmett picked me up like a rag doll and threw me over his shoulder. When he put me down at the edge of the 'dance floor' he shoved my beer in my hand.

"It's best if you don't complain too much and just go with the flow," he half shouted at me over the noise.

"I don't dance!" I shouted back.

"With enough beer, everyone dances!" He laughed and encouraged me to drink up. Letting out a sigh of defeat, I did as he suggested and simply chugged my beer. I put the glass down on an abandoned table near me, and joined in, trying to mimic the other's dance moves, hoping I didn't look too much like an idiot. The clumsy side of me, however, was much too strong and I'm not even sure how it happened, but somehow I twisted my ankle. Thankfully Emmett was there and he carried me back to the table, sitting me down and putting my foot up on a chair.

"I'm so sorry Bella, let me go get you some ice." And he disappeared into the crowd surrounding the bar. Alice came over to me to see if I was okay, and I assured her I was fine. I in fact encouraged her to go back and dance more, there was nothing she could do for me. She did, but it didn't last long. Emmett had just gotten back with the ice, when Alice returned with the other girls. They didn't want to leave me by myself, but in the end it worked out, because the band came on just after Leah got us another round. I had a difficult time sitting with my ankle up for the whole show, I was getting restless already. I was actually grateful when I had to get up to pee. My ankle wasn't too bad to walk on, my guess was that I had just twisted it. It didn't even appear to be swollen. Just the same, Rose insisted walking with me to the rest room to make sure I was alright. There had been a long line for the ladies' room and when Rose and I finally got out, the band had finished and had joined us at the table. When Edward saw us walking over, he rushed up to me.

"Are you alright? Emmett said you hurt your ankle," He said, grabbing hold of me, looking me over.

"Edward, I'm fine. I think I just twisted it. I'm not a cripple," I said, as began to pick me up, "I really don't need you to carry me."

He frowned and I could tell he didn't believe me, "Well you tell me if it starts to hurt okay?"

"I will," I said nodding my head, "I promise."

"Bella we didn't know if you would want another or not, so we got you one just in case while you were in the bathroom," Alice said.

"Oh thanks," I said, returning to my seat, not bothering to put my foot up again. Edward took a seat next to me, and it was as if he was preparing to jump into action if anything were to happen. Of course nothing did happen, and he eventually began to relax when I told him my ankle didn't even hurt any more. It was true, but it was entirely possible that was just from the alcohol. I was able to maintain a nice buzz all night without getting drunk. Our group was loud and full of laughter. Had we not been in a bar I'm sure we would have been obnoxious. Everyone was having a good time, and it was the first time in a long time that I was comfortable being around this many people for this long. I felt like a normal person for once. As it began to get later, Emmett helped the guys load up the equipment, and there was a silent mutual agreement that it was time to head home.

Luckily Jasper hadn't drank too much. Alice was giggly and both my and Edward's buzzes were wearing off. I hadn't even realized he had drank enough to be buzzed in the first place. Anyway Jasper was in a good shape to drive, and the four of us piled into Alice's car and we wound up back at their apartment. Edward opened the car door for me, and then picked up me, bridal style, and carried me inside.

"I don't want you to walk up the stairs," was his reasoning, "Who knows if your ankle could handle it?"

I figured he would put me down once we got to their hall, but I was wrong. I then thought that he would put me down when we got inside, and yet again I was wrong. He walked me right into his bedroom and laid me down on his bed. Jasper had lead a giggling Alice into his bedroom and shut the door behind them. I giggled to myself, thinking of what they would be doing in there.

"Let me get you something comfy to change into," Edward said, as he himself began to strip down. He managed to get down to his boxers before he began going through his drawers. I was consciously staring at him, I was however subconsciously stripping myself, ending up in my bra and panties. Edward began pulling things out of his dresser, throwing them on the floor beside him, until he let out a satisfied sort of noise, turning around to face me with some clothes in his hand.

"Shit Bella," he said, his jaw nearly dropped, his eyes taking in my nearly naked body. The clothes he had taken out for me were dropped on the floor in front of the bed and he was on me. He kissed me with a hungry passion, rubbing his body against mine. Our hands were all over each other, and we had some mumbled complimentary exchanges. The little remaining clothing that separated us made its way to the floor, and Edward and I spent our first night together.

I woke up in the morning to the sun coming through silted blinds across my face. I stretched arching my back, letting out a groan. After my eyes adjusted, I looked around, forgetting for a brief moment where I was, and then really looking at Edward's room for the first time. That did not last long when I looked over at his naked form next to me on his bed, one of his arms splayed across my hip. I imagine it had once been wrapped around my waist. I couldn't resist settling back into the bed, nuzzling into his chest. He let out a quiet moan himself and pulled me closer. I was enjoying our skin contact, and began running my fingers across his body, reveling at the touch. I must have found a ticklish spot, because Edward began giggling sleepily.

"Hey, spot that," He said his voice sleep heavy.

"Sorry," I mumbled into his chest, "I couldn't resist." I grinned, and his eyes fluttered open to look at me.

"We're naked," he commented.

"Yes, we are."

"I'm so sorry."

"Sorry? What could you possibly be sorry for."

"Last night. It shouldn't have happened that way."

"What are you talking about? Last night was amazing."

"We were drunk Bella."

"We were not drunk. We were barely buzzed. Don't tell me you regret it."

"Well no," he said not looking me in the eyes, as if he were ashamed, "You just deserve better."

"Well I'm perfectly happy with what I got. I'm just glad you don't think it was a mistake."

"I could never think anything I did with you was a mistake," Edward said, finally looking me in the eyes, running a finger down my arm.

"Good," I said kissing him softly, "I couldn't bear it if you did."

"Never," he whispered, "You're so beautiful. I love waking up next to you."

"Mmm me too," I said, "but about you." Edward tickled my waist and I giggled.

"That was very cheesy," he grinned at me, "But I liked it anyway."

I heard noises coming from the kitchen, "I guess we should get up. I have to pee anyway."

"I'd rather just stay here all day, but I suppose your right," he sighed sitting up, "Clothes. Would you like shorts or sweats?"

"Um, sweats for now I think."

We both got up, he handed me some clothes to put on, and we dressed in silence, stealing glances at one another. Alice was very animated, talking to Jasper. I shook my head, making my way to the bathroom. Who knew how she had so much energy in the morning. When I got out of the bathroom, I heard bits of the conversation.

"I don't know what the issue is, I plan Emmett and my birthday party every year and you always help and it turns out great," Alice pouted.

"I just don't know why you're starting so early," Jasper groaned.

"It's never too early to start planning a party, right Bella?" Alice dragged me in.

"Errr.."

"Bella you don't have to answer, she's crazy. She likes to plan things months in advance," Jasper tried to get me off the hook, "She over analyzes everything, she's really a perfectionist about it."

"Well it's not every day you turn twenty three," Alice defended, "I just want to be prepared. Birthdays creep up quickly if you let them. I just want a head start so I'm not rushing around trying to throw it together."

"When's your birthday?" I asked with a yawn.

"June seventeenth."

If I had been drinking something I might have spit it out, "And you'll be twenty three?"

"Yeah why?"

"Holy shit," I said sitting down, "So will I."

"No way Bella! That is too freaky!"

"And you and Emmett are twins?" I asked, the three of them just nodded their heads staring at me, "And we have the same eyes."

"Bella?" Alice asked, I could tell she was piecing together what I was thinking. But she didn't know. I hadn't told any of them. That piece of information had never even crossed my mind until right now.

"Mrs. Masen told me that the nurse that dropped me off had made a quiet offhand comment about triplets…."

"So, you might be my sister?"

**Ahhh I'm so evil leaving it there. I want your opinion, should I change the rating? I think I'm still in the T boundaries, but if anyone thinks I should bump it up, please let me know. Also I think I should have my new story (called Crossing Boundaries) up tomorrow or the next day (along with an update for this of course), so I would appreciate if you would check it out :)**

**As always, thank you for reading.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks for your kind reviews. I know you're all waiting to see what happens.**

**I don't own the characters, just the plot.**

Hearing Alice say the words put me in shock. I sunk into my seat and just nodded my head.

"Bella, are you sure? Do you really think it's possible?" Jasper broke the silence that had fallen across the room.

"Of course I'm not sure. I know nothing about my family. But it's entirely possible," I shrugged.

"But…why? I mean how could…?" Alice started, unable to formulate a full question.

"I really don't know," I shook my head. I began feeling entirely removed from the situation. It was like I was a whole separate person looking from the outside in on this bizarre situation. I couldn't focus on anything, it was like I was completely zoned out, but on nothing. I had so many thoughts running through my head.

"Well I told you we were connected!" Alice said, and she stuck her tongue out at Jasper and Edward. I let out one loud laugh and promptly shut my mouth and covered it with my hand. Trust Alice to completely break the tension for me. She gave me a big hug, practically around my neck, and plopped a fat kiss on my cheek.

"Are you alright?" Edward whispered, leaning in towards me.

"Of course she is, let's have breakfast!" Apparently his whisper was loud enough for Alice to hear. I nodded my head, not wanting to dwell on this any longer. Well not in front of people anyway, it was something I needed to process myself.

"Well, um, are you going to get tested or something?" Jasper asked. Part of me wanted to smack him right across the face, but I did understand his curiosity. Edward shot him daggers with his eyes. I was incredibly fortunate that he seemed to understand what I needed.

"Jasper, the rest of us have currently moved past this topic. We will discuss this again at another point in time, but for now I just need you to get me the Fruit Loops, I can't reach them, they're too far up," Alice sounded a bit like a mother talking to her child in that instance.

Jasper mumbled a 'Sorry' at me and got up and helped out Alice. I myself got up and went on a search for orange juice. Edward got up right after me, and grabbed two glasses as I got the juice out of the fridge. It took Jasper a moment to join the rest of us for the morning routine, the tense look on his face transitioned to a much more normal look. Somehow it calmed me seeing that he was like anxious about the situation.

"Well so what do you want for the party Bella?" before I could respond she cut me off, "And it doesn't matter if you are my sister or not, it's still your birthday too and you deserve a nice party as much as anybody else."

I blushed furiously, "Alice I'm not into big theatrical productions, you really don't need to do something special for me."

"Nonsense," she said brushing me off, "Now last year we had safari themed party, so I don't want to do something too similar. We've got to mix it up right? Fresh ideas every year. We've done an aquatic theme, that was a lot of fun. I try to make things not too girly for Emmett's behalf. Ohhh maybe we'll do a Renaissance theme this year, that could be so much fun! Definitely not too girly, I'm just Emmett would give his okay, I mean he knows better than to oppose me too much anyway. What do you think?"

"Err sure? I'm not really sure what a themed party entails."

"Oh Bella," Alice sighed, "I have so much to teach you."

After breakfast, Edward showered and dressed for the day. I stayed in his clothes for the time, deciding to wait to shower until I had clean clothes to change into. Alice only let us leave after we reassured her several times that we would be coming back that afternoon. Edward watched TV as I cleaned up and got ready for the day. The privacy of the shower gave me an opportunity to get my thoughts together. I wasn't sure whether or not this was something I wanted or was ready to talk to Edward about, but I knew I wanted to talk to someone. My instincts told me Angela since she had been there for me for so long, but the thought of sharing this with her somehow felt wrong. Obviously I planned on talking to her about it eventually, but first I needed something else. I needed to figure things out a bit better before I shared them with her, but I have a need to get things off my chest. I decided Edward was a good choice. He was safe. He knew Alice and Emmett, and he knew me. He knew me _very_ well if I were to be honest. I knew he would be supportive, and he would do his best to be objective. I could depend on him. I made a mental list of the order I wanted to cover certain topics, and tried to plan what I might say. I knew once we started talking that would all be out the window, but having the plan soothed me.

When I walked out of the bathroom I walked over to the couch and sat close to Edward, cuddling with him. When whatever he was watching went to commercial he turned the TV off. We sat quietly for a moment, with Edward stroking my hair. It was really just what I needed.

"Have you ever met Alice's parents?" I asked. That was definitely not where I had planned to start, but I seemed like a good jumping off point.

"Yeah I have. Actually I've known them for a long time, Alice and Emmett grew up in Forks too. Charlie, their dad, was the chief of police. I don't remember Renee, their mom too much. They got divorced when Alice and Emmett were about four I think. They lived with her for a little while, but when they were about ten she got remarried. From what I've been told the guy is nice enough, but he travels a lot so they went came to live with Charlie so she could go with him. At first she visited a lot, especially on holidays, but over the years she's come less and less. They still call and email a lot, but she's not really around," I got the impression that he didn't want to say too much more about it, like he was trying to protect me from getting too upset.

I nodded my head in response, "Do you think it's possible? I mean could I really be their sister?"

"You said it yourself, it's possible. I mean there are a lot of coincidences there. I'm not sure I'd be surprised, but I don't want you to get your hopes up about this and then be let down, if it's even something you're interested in looking into."

"I think I am. I mean really I think if it weren't for the fact that it might be Alice and Emmett as my siblings, I wouldn't be interested you know? Like if some stranger came up to me on the street saying they were my family and I could get proof, I wouldn't. Well okay, no sane person would, but do you get what I mean? If they weren't friends of mine, I wouldn't care."

"I get it. It's like they already mean something to you, so you're curious if there is actually that connection there. But you're not interested in finding out some random people you don't know are your family."

"Exactly. I mean when I was younger I would have killed for that opportunity, but I just doesn't matter like it once did," I let out a heavy sigh, "But then again I'm kind of afraid of getting hurt one way or another. Like you said, I don't want to get the idea that they're my family in my head and then turn out to be wrong. Or worse I find out they are and I'm the one my parents abandoned. I mean I know if that's true it's not Emmett or Alice's fault, but would I resent them? I'm afraid I'd constantly be wondering what made them good enough to keep, but not me. Would Charlie or Renee even want to try to accept me? Would they want to know me? I don't know how I'd handle any of that. Of course I could be totally wrong and I'd be completely fine with it."

"I really wish I could help you Bella," Edward said, kissing my hand, "But there is no easy answer to any of this. I just want to see you happy no matter what. I don't want to see you get hurt just as badly as you do. What would be worse, knowing or not knowing?"

I didn't even have to think twice, "Not knowing. Grrr, this is so frustrating, I don't even know how to go about this. Do I just go up to Charlie and say 'Hi, I'm might be your daughter, give me some blood'?"

"I think that you should talk to Alice and Emmett about it. See if they can talk to Charlie and Renee, and maybe get some more insight about the situation. Of course this impacts you more than anyone else, but it's still big news for them too."

"You're absolutely right," I said turning and kissing him, "I hadn't even thought of any of that. I was too wrapped up in myself to even think how it might impact them."

"And you had every right to be. Don't even feel guilty for a moment about that. In this situation you deserve to be a little selfish."

"Why do you have to be so amazing?" I asked, kissing him again, "I don't know what I'd do without you. I'd be a huge mess right now. There would probably be scribbled nonsensical notes in a heap on my desk right now if you hadn't been here to support me."

"Bella, you're silly," Edward chided, "I did practically nothing. I just listened."

"Well you're a good listener," I huffed.

"Well thank you," he said with a grin, kissing me again, "And I forgot to mention it earlier, but I'm really sorry about Jasper. He had a hard time dealing with emotional things. It's like he absorbs all this emotion and he has a hard time processing it."

"It's okay. It was hard at the time, but I can't say I blame him. And you and Alice handled that very well. I mean you were perfect then too, it was like what you exactly what I needed. You're very good at this apparently, maybe you should try therapy a fall back in case the music thing doesn't pan out," I teased.

"Oh har har," Edward said nudging me, "I'm not sure I'd be so good for anyone else. You're just special."

"Ohhh I think I like the sound of that," I practically giggled.

"Yeah?" He asked, a wicked smirk on his face.

"Definitely."

He kissed me again, quite deeply, "Good," He said when he was done, "It makes this so much easier." And then he started tickling me. I was shrieking and I couldn't breathe, but he didn't stop until I fell off the couch. I hit him in the leg as I gasped for air.

"You're a jerk Edward Cullen! You're just lucky you're so damn cute," I grumbled once I could speak again.

"Oh I know you think I'm more than cute," he grinned down at me, rubbing where I had hit him.

"And so modest too," I rolled my eyes, "Now help me up, jerk."

"Is that my new nickname now?"

"Just for now. I'm sure you'll redeem yourself soon enough."

Edward redeemed himself quickly enough when he made us lunch. After we had eaten and cleaned up, he took me back to his apartment. Neither of us wanted to get on Alice's bad side.

"Oh good, you're back," Alice said, positively beaming when we walked in, "Bella, I hope you don't mind, but I told Emmett."

"That's only fair," I said shrugging.

"Oh good. He and Rose should be here soonish as well."

"Alice," Edward said in a warning tone, "What do you have planned?"

"What makes you so sure I have something planned? And if I did, why do you think I would tell you?"

"I've known you long enough that I can tell when you're up to something, now please just fill me in."

"I wish she would," Jasper said, "I haven't been able to get a thing out of her all day. I think Rosalie knows though."

"Well that does us no good," Edward sighed.

"I have no idea what either of you are talking about," Alice said, and even I could tell she was lying, her phone however then began to ring, "Oh excuse me." She walked quickly into Jasper's room shutting the door behind her.

"What's that all about?" Edward asked Jasper.

"No clue, that's like the third time she's done it today though. I think it has something to do with her evil plotting."

"Must be," Edward agreed, "Not like her to do that."

We didn't have long to wonder, she came out as the bell rang, Emmett and Rose needing to be let in. When they got upstairs, Emmett practically ambushed me at the door. He picked me up in a big bear hug, lifting me off the ground and twirling me around. He put me down right where I had been standing before he came in.

"So I hear that you might be my sister."

"I guess so."

"That's fantastic. Now who knows what's going on? The two of them," he said gesturing between Alice and Rose, "Have been plotting something and it's driving me crazy."

"Not a clue," said Jasper.

"Yeah, we're in the same boat," Edward said, making sure he was aware I had no idea what was going on either.

"Alright, well now that we've got that out of the way," Alice said, walking towards Rose who was still standing by the door, "Jasper I have your keys, we'll be back soon, and you guys should be ready to go, if you're not already."

"Go where?" I questioned.

"Bella you're perfect the way you are," Rose said to me, "See you guys in a bit!" She waved and they disappeared out the door.

"What the hell?" was all I could say. The four of us gathered at the window and watched them drive off, trying to get a clue of what was going on.

"Does this happen often?" I asked no one in particular.

"From time to time," Emmett shrugged.

"So what do you think is going on?" Edward asked, looking between Emmett and Jasper.

"My best guess is that is has something to do with dinner," Emmett answered, "When I asked Rose what we were eating tonight – you know how she is- she just said 'something'."

"If they were just planning something for dinner why is it such a huge secret?" I questioned.

"Oh there is no way it's just a surprised dinner plan. More likely they're going to try to get us all drunk at dinner and drag us to get matching tattoos or something ridiculous like that," Jasper said. My eyes grew wide in horror.

"Don't worry," Edward assured me, "Jasper is exaggerating. But it won't just be dinner, that's for sure. They're probably planning a way to plant an engagement ring on Emmett so that it looks like he's proposing in front of all of us."

"Basically," Emmett said, seeing the look on my face, "There are infinite possibilities of what they could be up to. Several of which are crazy."

We continued to theorize what the night had in store for us when they came back. They came upstairs, checked us over, went to the bathroom, I assume to put some things in their purses, and dragged us out the door.

"We're having a picnic!" Alice said as we piled into Rose and Alice's cars.

"Oh," was my response, "Is that it?"

That was not however it. We got to the park and set up for the picnic. Edward and I sat on one of the blankets as Jasper and Emmett argued over who was grilling, and Alice and Rose stood farther away by a tree whispering furiously to one another. When a man with a bushy mustache walked over to us and I heard Alice call out 'Daddy!' my jaw dropped.

**Wow I'm a little evil again aren't I? Jeez, I'm not usually bad like this. Anyway, I hope you liked it!**

**Shameless plug: My new story, Crossing Boundaries, is out if you're interested in checking it out.**

**As always, I thank you all for reading.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thanks for all the reviews! You're all too good to me. Izzy Ann, thank you so much for your compliment! I do hope someday to get published, and I'm glad to know I already have such a dedicated fan :)**

**Happy July Everyone!**

**I the stuff referenced in this story that makes money is not mine.**

I was in shock. I seriously debated getting up in running, and I think I would have had I not been frozen, wide-eyed, in place. This was definitely not something I was ready for. If anything my discussion with Edward proved how just unprepared I am to handle something this monumental yet. I had only just come to terms with the decision to go through with finding out if these were my blood relatives, but I was nowhere ready to meet someone who was potentially my father. Edward squeezed my shoulder and I let out the breath I had been holding slowly. The slow motion everything had momentarily taken on was completely gone, and it seemed that the events that took place next happened all at once.

Alice was excitedly talking to her father, whom was staring expectantly at Emmett, waiting for his greeting. Emmett, Jasper, and Edward, were now glaring between Rose and Alice, turning softer eyes on me, waiting for my response. Alice seemed oblivious to the whole thing, and Rose was biting her lip, looking nervous as if she were having second thoughts about taking part in all of this. Charlie finally realized that Emmett wasn't paying him any mind and turned his gaze to see what Emmett was looking at; me. He blinked, and shook his head in disbelief, as if naturally doing a double take.

"Alice," he said stopping her mid flow, "I'm sorry, but who is your friend?"

"Daddy," she said softly, "That's Bella." As if that were all the explanation he would need in the world.

There was a moment of tense silence, where no one spoke or moved. Thank goodness for Emmett.

"Hi dad," he said, walking over and giving him a hug. I was impressed, it wasn't a man hug, it was a real hug, "Burger or dog? Or both?"

"I errr," Charlie stuttered, "Burger I guess. Thanks."

Alice took Charlie gently by the arm and walked him over to the blanket Edward and I were sitting at, "Bella I would like you to meet my father, Charlie. Dad, this is Bella, Edward's girlfriend."

"Hello," he said, staring at me intently, his hand out ready to awkwardly shake mine.

Edward nudged me when I didn't move. I shook myself out of my daze the best I could and stood up. I placed my hand in his and shook it softly, amazed that I wasn't shaking like a leaf myself.

"It's nice to meet you sir," I said, unable to hold his eye contact for more than a few seconds.

"I'm so sorry for staring," he apologized, "You just look remarkably like my ex-wife when she was your age."

"Oh," was all I could say as a blush crept across my face. I dropped my hand from his.

"I mean, well you should take that as a compliment. She was, well is I guess, a beautiful woman."

"Thank you," I said softly, looking at me feet intently.

"Does she?" Alice asked, head cocked. I guess she was surprised she hadn't noticed it herself.

"She does," confirmed Charlie, "You wouldn't remember, you were so young," he shook his head as if trying to get the image out his head, "So what's this surprise you were talking about?"

"Well dad," Alice said, shifting her weight from foot to foot, actually looking unsure of herself, "Bella is the surprise."

Charlie raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Well you're kind of the surprise for Bella actually. I mean really it's kind of a two way street…" she trailed off.

"Alice, I'm not following you hunny," Charlie said, baffled.

"Alice," Edward said in a warning voice.

"I'm not sure this was the best idea," Jasper chimed in.

"What is going on here? What do you all seem to know that I don't?" Charlie said, he wasn't quite angry, but frustrated and confused.

"I'm sorry, I really thought this would be for the best, you see dad, there's a reason Bella looks so much like mom…" Alice really just couldn't get to the point, which I found infuriating, but I was also grateful for.

"Dad, what Alice is trying to say is that Bella is an orphan, and her birthday is the exact same as ours," Emmett said hastily.

"Is that true?" Charlie asked, looking at me. I bit my lip and nodded my head yes, "Isabella?"

I felt as if I were about to break apart into a million pieces, flying off into different directions.

"Isabella Marie?"

"That's my name," I said in a near whisper.

"What is this some sick joke?" Charlie said, whirling on Alice this time, "How did you find out about your sister? Did Renee tell you? We agreed….it was for the best…."

"No dad," Alice said backing away looking scared, "I mean from the moment I met Bella a couple of weeks ago I knew we had a connection. And we have the same eyes, and then I found out she was an orphan, and this morning I just found out we have the same birthday, and Bella said she might have been a triplet…."

I didn't know what was about to happen, but Charlie looked like his was breaking down. Maybe his life was smashed into a million pieces too.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, feeling tears start to build behind my eyes. Edward wrapped an arm around me. I couldn't bring myself to look at anyone, but I could only imagine the scene in front of my eyes. I got the impression that Edward was not only trying to comfort me, but that he was trying to protect me as well.

"Bella you have nothing to be sorry for," Emmett said somewhat gruffly, "Dad, you know how Alice is. She got this idea in her head and kind of sprung this on all of us. She and Rose were the only ones who knew what was going on. I'm sure they were just trying to help Bella put together her puzzle."

"I'm the one who should be sorry," Charlie said, "I'm really not mad, I'm just so taken aback. I never thought…"

"Dad, I'm sorry. Maybe you should be mad. Emmett was right, this was all my crazy idea. I should have talked to you, to Bella, to everyone before I just brought everything together all at once. But if it's possible," she added, "If it were me, I wouldn't want to wait. I couldn't stand any second of not knowing more than I had to wait. I just thought we all deserved to know."

"I guess it is possible," Charlie sighed, and I finally looked up, "I'm not sure I blame you for doing this Alice, I just wish we could have been more prepared."

"What do you mean it's possible?" I spat, anger I hadn't realized was there spilling out of me.

"Look do we have to talk about this right now? Right here?" Charlie said running a hand across the back of his neck.

"It's not ideal, but now that it's out there, I think we do," said Rose, who had remained silent through the whole thing, "Look Alice and I probably made a huge mistake doing this, but it was what we thought was right at the time. We were just trying to help our friend. Now that we've opened this can of worms, something has to be done about it. Unfortunately that responsibility falls to you," she said to Charlie, "I am so sorry for putting this on you, but I don't think we have another choice right now."

"Bella, what do you think?" Edward whispered to me, "We can walk away from this right now if you want."

"No," I shook my head, "Rose is right, we need to do this now. I wish I were more prepared, well I wish that we were all more prepared, but I'm too far invested right now to just let it go until we can prepare."

"I understand," Charlie said softly. He took a seat at the park picnic bench that we had covered in food stuffs, which were now being ignored entirely. Alice sat beside him, and Rose sat on the blanket Edward and I had been occupying. Emmett and Jasper chose the grass where they had been standing, but I refused to sit down. Part of me was prepared to bolt at any moment. Edward stood planted firmly by my side, his arm still wrapped around me.

"Well I guess it all started a little over twenty-three years ago," Charlie began, "Renee and I had been so excited when we found out she was pregnant. We were over the moon when we found out she was supposed to be having triplets, although we both knew it would be difficult. We weren't in the best financial situation for triplets, but we were determined to make it work. Then we found out that there was a complication with the pregnancy. One of the babies was smaller than the others, and the doctors weren't sure if she would make it through the whole pregnancy. Renee could have had a partial miscarriage, or the child could be a stillborn. If she were to make it through alive, the doctors thought it was likely she would have brain damage. Renee did everything she could to make sure all of her babies were safe for the rest of the pregnancy. She was on bed rest, she ate everything healthy, she got what exercise she could. She couldn't let any of our babies go, and neither could I. Eventually when you guys were born, Emmett came out first, he was the biggest, then Alice, and then Isabella. She was so small. Both of you were smaller, but not like this. She was no bigger than my two hands put together. She was born, but she wasn't well. We only got to hold her for a moment, I remember the look of joy on Renee's face, and then she was taken away. She wasn't breathing properly, and she wasn't pink like you two, she had a blue tint to her. No one was sure if she'd make it. They cleared her air passages, and hooked her up with a blood transfusion, but she didn't last long. I saw her, she was hooked up to these machines, and then her chest just stopped rising. It was the worst moment of my life, Renee couldn't even bare to look at her. She refused to even let the doctors or nurses talk to her about it while she was in the hospital. We had a very small memorial for her, and for a while Renee wanted to pretend that it had never happened. Eventually she was able to talk about it, but it was still very hard. She was able to move on, but she was never the same."

Alice had tears silently sliding down her face, and for a moment there was a somber silence. Then the questions came.

"How come you never told us?" Emmett asked.

"You said there was a memorial, did you ever retrieve the body?" asked Jasper.

"So you just said goodbye to your child and never looked back?" came from Edward, which caught me off guard, he sounded so bitter about it.

"There are so many things I would have done differently looking back on it now," Charlie said, "But I can't undo what happened. Bella, if you are my daughter, I am terribly sorry."

Then I ran. I heard them calling out after me, but I just kept running. The wind whipping my face stung my eyes that were now spilling out tears, blurring my vision as I ran. I had no idea where I was going, or what I was going to do, but I ran until I couldn't run any more. After I took a moment, bent over my hands grasping my thighs, gasping to catch my breath, I called Angela. I was outside of some diner, I gave her a description, and she assured me she'd be there as soon as she could. I sank down to the sidewalk and sobbed into my hands. I don't know how much time passed, but it began raining, as it frequently does in Seattle. I picked my head up out of my hands and tilted it up to the sky, staring into the dark clouds above me. A waitress that had been in the side alley smoking a cigarette picked me up, insisting I come inside with her. She sat me down in a corner booth, giving me privacy. She came back shortly after with a hot chocolate.

"I don't know what happened to you girlie, but I figured you could use this," she said as she placed the drink down in front of me, "If you need anything else, anything at all, give me a holler."

I nodded my head gratefully at her, and took a big sip of the chocolaty goodness, reveling in the warmth spreading through my body. I hadn't realized how could I was until that moment, and I let out a shiver. Not long after Angela burst through the doors of the diner, turning her head, wilding scanning for me. I waved feebly at her, and she rushed over, scooting into the booth right next to me, enveloping me in her arms. I broke down again and cried into her shoulder, and she just rubbed my back.

"What happened?" she asked when I finally pulled myself away, wiping the snot from my nose.

And so I began telling her my tale.

**Thanks for reading guys! I promise I'll have another update soon and I won't leave you hanging.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Wow guys, thanks for all the reviews! You guys are sure being harsh on Charlie, it wasn't his fault.**

**I'm sorry for the delay in update this week. I know I don't have a schedule, but I was really trying to have this up yesterday. It was a busy week, and unfortunately next week is looking the same.**

**The characters aren't mine, only the plot is.**

Angela and I sat for what seemed like hours in that diner. She held me and cried with me, and did her best to comfort me. She took me home and promised she would stay the night. I had completely ignored my phone the whole night so when I finally got home, I figured it was about time I checked it. I had several missed calls and texts from Edward, Alice, and Rose.

I read Rose's texts first.

**Bella, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have gone along with Alice's idea, we should have talked to you first. Please forgive me.**

**Are you ok Bella? We're really worried.**

Alice's were quite similar, although I had several more apology texts.

**Bella I really didn't think this would be so bad, you have to know I thought it was best for everyone. I messed up, but I promise it will be okay. I'm really really sorry, and I'll do whatever I can to work this out.**

**Charlie says he's sorry about everything and that whenever you're ready he wants to help out if he can. He just wants to know you're safe.**

**Be as mad at me as you want Bella, I deserve it, but please tell me you're ok, I need to make this better.**

There were several similar that I skimmed. I was mad at Alice and Rose, but I did feel bad for them. I was sure they were worried about me and I knew they felt awful for springing this on me. I felt awful for ignoring Edward, he had nothing to do with it and I'm sure he just wanted to make me feel better.

**Bella I'm so sorry about what happened are you ok?**

**Do you need to come pick you up somewhere? I swear I won't tell anyone else, I just want to make sure you're safe.**

**Please call me when you can Bella, I'm getting worried.**

I decided I should text them back since everyone is so worried about me. I sent Alice and Rose the same text telling them I was ok, and I that I would talk to them later. I ignored the response texts I got from them. To Edward, I was much more caring.

**Angela picked me up. I'm at my apartment, she's staying with me tonight. I'm still kind of confused about my feelings, but I'm ok. I'm going to shower, but I'll call you after.**

I took my phone into the bathroom with me, planning on calling him after I got out of the shower. Angela told me that she was going to lie down and watch TV and that if she fell asleep to feel free to wake her up if I needed to. I was hoping that she would be asleep when I was done, just to give myself some extra privacy for my phone call, not that she would be one eavesdrop. My phone went off as I was waiting for the water to heat up.

**I'm glad you're ok. **

Somehow one simple text from Edward made me feel better than I had since we first got to the park. It was nice to have someone care about me like that, and I had actually felt bad knowing that I had worried him. Deep inside, I knew that I was falling for him, and part of me thought it was scary and part of me was so very excited.

I hadn't even realized how tense my body had gotten until the shower calmed me down. Despite how much more relaxed I was, I was still not at ease. I dried my hair and got into my pajamas, sat on the toilet seat and called Edward.

"Bella?"

"Hi," I said softly, "I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner."

"It's okay, I know it was hard for you to hear all that."

"Yeah, it was. I didn't think it would be, but it was just too much."

"I'm just glad you're alright. I was really worried. I had no idea where you'd gone. I screamed at Alice and Rose. I think it actually really scared them, Jasper told me Alice was crying later. I might have gone a little overboard, I was just so angry. I couldn't stand to see you hurt like that and I needed to do something to try and make it better."

"Wow. You really screamed that much?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed. I pictured him running his hands through his hair in my head, "I kind of lost control a little. It's something I regret. But what's done is done."

"Did you apologize? I feel like this is all my fault. I was the cause of all this craziness."

"It's not your fault Bella. None of this is. You had no control over the situation, and no one blames you for your reaction. And yes, after I calmed down I talked to Alice and Rose again. I apologized for going overboard and they apologized for their scheming. We all talked about it for a while. Charlie too. Emmett said he'd never seen him so upset before, but I guess I missed the worst of it."

"What do you mean you missed the worst of it?"

"Well when you took off I chased after you and went looking for you when I lost you. It was a good twenty minutes before I went back."

"You chased after me?"

"Of course I did Bella, I didn't want you to be alone."

"Wow. I heard you guys calling for me, but I didn't realize you came after me. I guess I just figured you would have caught me, I'm not very fast."

"Well apparently you are when you're upset. And not to brag, but I'm pretty fast. I was sure I was going to catch up to you too. You didn't have much of a head start."

"Jeez. I wish I could just go back and have this afternoon never happen. I'd like to go back to this morning and just stay in bed with you all day instead."

Edward let out a deep chuckle, "You're right that would have been a much better idea. I'd love to spend the day in bed with you."

"Well maybe some other day we will," I couldn't help but grin.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Good, I'm going to hold you to that."

"I look forward to it."

He chuckled again, "So you're all set with Angela right? I can come over if you need me to."

"I'm fine, I promise."

"Okay. Well if you need anything, at any point, just let me know. I don't care how let it is."

"Ok Edward," I said with a bit of a sarcastic tone, "Really I'm fine. I'm just going to get some sleep."

"I'm serious! I will be there in a heartbeat if you need me."

"I'm sure I'll be fine, but if I'm not you'll be the first to know. Well third actually. I'll know first, and then Angela, and then you."

"Alright, alright," he said a hint of a smile in his voice, "Can I see you tomorrow?"

"I expect it."

"Good. Sleep well Bella."

"You too Edward."

"I'll do my best. Good night."

"G'night," I said softly and then hung up. I felt much better talking to Edward. Now that I was off the phone with him, I was tempted to call him back and have him come over, but that would have been ridiculous.

I walked out of the bathroom to the glow of the TV. Angela's snores were overpowering the soft sound the box was emitting. I shut it off and slid into bed next to her. She subconsciously adjusted to fit me there better, and I wound up with her arm across my waist. I silently thanked her for being such a good friend to me, and let my shut my eyes, letting the darkness wash over me. When I woke up in the morning, I could tell by the amount of light coming in through the window that it was much later then I wanted it to be. I sat up in a panic, grabbing my phone to check the time.

"Relax," Angela said from the kitchen, "I turned off your alarm last night. I called Shelly and told her what happened, and said I thought you could use a little extra sleep. She agreed with me, and said she would stay and cover until you came in. She told me to tell you to take your time."

"Thanks," I said breathing a sigh of relief as my body relaxed again, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"God only knows," Angela said shaking her head, "But then again I don't know what I'd do without you either. Now that you're up, get your butt outta bed and come eat some breakfast."

"Ange, how long have you been up?" I asked when I noticed she had made fruit salad.

"Since six," she shrugged, "I had to call Shelly, and last night it was too late. Don't say a word, you don't need to worry about it. I have the day off right? I can nap later."

"You're too good to me," I said, popping some bread into the toaster.

"I know," she giggled, "But I'm sure you'll make it up to me somehow."

"I will," I nodded my head. I wanted tea, but I decided boiling the water would take too long so I just poured some water in a mug and put in in the microwave. I was just buttering my toast when the microwave finished, so I took out my mug and dropped the tea bag into it. I put my plate of toast on the table, spooning some of the fruit salad on the side. I fixed up my tea and sat down to eat. Angela pulled a chair up behind me and began brushing my hair as I ate.

"Fanks," I said with a mouthful of toast.

"Fanks? Geez Bella, I do all this nice stuff for you and you can't even wait to swallow your food to thank me?" Angela teased.

"Oh shut up," I responded after I swallowed, "You knew what I meant. I'd hit you if you weren't doing my hair."

"Oh I see how it is, you act all sweet and nice and gracious until things don't go your way," she pouted, "And then you get violent. No respect I tell ya."

"Ok Rodney Dangerfield," I rolled my eyes.

"You know it was a good impression."

"It was. What are you going to do with my hair?"

"I was thinking about braiding it. Does that sound good or should I do something else?"

"No that sounds good. I never braid my hair. It always comes out crooked and awful when I try to do it myself."

"Oh Bella," she sighed, "What am I ever going to do with you?"

"The same things you've always done," I muttered.

"So how long did you talk to Edward for last night?"

"A while," I shrugged, "Not too long."

"What did he say?"

"Well he screamed at Alice and Rosalie. It made Alice cry actually. I guess he apologized later. He said he had tried to chase after me, but I got away, which is weird considering how very un-athletic I am," I sighed, "Everyone wants to talk to me, even Charlie. Edward told me that Emmett had said he got really upset when I took off. He feels bad about what happened and wants to help me. And I ended up promising Edward I would spend a day in bed with him."

"Oh?" Angela responded, turning me around and looking at me with a raised eyebrow, "How did that come up?"

I blushed, "Well I had told him that I had wished I could go back in time and stay in bed with him instead of going through what actually happened yesterday."

"So you spent the night at his place. Anything _interesting_ happen?"

"You could say that. We had a very nice time Saturday night after the show."

"Bella! I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner! I deserve at the very least a morning after text!"

"Sorry! I meant too, but then everything happened and it totally slipped my mind."

"I get it. Well, was it good?"

"The best I've ever had," I sighed happily, "I'm telling you Angie, that man is amazing."

"Well you better get him on a leash or something before someone else tries to snatch him up!"

I snorted at the thought, "You've been spending too much time with Jess."

Angela finished my hair shortly after I finished my breakfast. She followed me to work to get a coffee before she went home. Despite the fact that I had been told to take my time, I was still glad that I was only an hour late to work. I graciously thanked Shelly for being so understanding of my situation, to which she told me she was more than happy to be supporting one of her best employees. Shelly was an older woman, her husband had bought the shop during his midlife crisis. She often referred to it as the best mistake he ever made. He was business minded, but he spent very little time in the shop. I had actually only met him once. Shelly worked as a secretary at a local high school, so she was around much more often. She was really the one who ran Java Juice; she was the go to woman whenever we had a problem. I couldn't have asked for a better boss.

Laurent smiled at me meekly, and asked if I was ok. He had gotten a watered down version of what had happened from Shelly, who I'm sure hadn't gotten quite the full story from Angela. I assured him I was fine, and filled him in a bit more about what had actually happened, giving him the key details, but leaving out more of the personal bits. He seemed curious, but he didn't press the matter any further. At the end of our shift, he wished me the best. As I was unlocking my bike, someone came up behind me, and scared me half to death with a simple hello.

**Who is it? Dun dun dun. Don't be too upset, I should have an update Sunday night or Monday.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi everybody! Thanks to those of you who have added me to their alerts/favorites. Extra thanks to those who bothered to review. Also if you catch any errors in my writing, please let me know so I can fix them!**

**As always, the characters don't belong to me, just the plot.**

"Emmett?" I said bonking my head on my bike, "Damn it!"

"Jesus Bella, are you okay?" he asked, taking a step closer to me as I rubbed the spot I bumped.

I sighed, "I'm fine. Bumps and bruises are nothing new to me. You startled me."

"I noticed," he said, trying his best to conceal a grin.

"So," she began, "to what do I owe the pleasure? I've never seen you out in these parts before."

"Well I wanted to talk to you, somewhat privately, about yesterday," Emmett said with a serious tone.

"Oh," was my response, "Well I should warn you, I have plans with Edward tonight, so we might want to make this a bit quick."

"Oh. Right. Of course. I'm just glad you didn't say no and run away from me really. Although I'm not sure I'd blame you if you had," he said, a bit more naturally.

"No," I sighed again, "That would do me no good. Besides, nothing that happened yesterday was your fault."

"I know," he said softly, "But I can still feel bad right?" I nodded my head, "First things first, if you're my sister, that's cool, but if you're not, that's cool too. One way or another you're still you right?" I just nodded again, unwilling to speak, "Second of all, I wanted to apologize again for Alice and Rose. I know me apologizing on their behalf is not quite the same, but I just want to encourage you to give them a second chance. Neither of them thought things would go the way they had, in fact I think Alice thought you'd be excited to meet Charlie," he paused, giving me a chance to reply, which I still did not, "I assure you they both had the best of intentions with that whole little set up. They may have been misguided, but I know they're both pretty crushed right now. So I'm also just kind of asking you not to be too hard on them."

"I'm not that mad anymore," I finally spoke, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about it, but I know they were really just trying to help. I'm sure we'll be able to work it out when I'm ready to talk to them."

"Good," Emmett said, a soft smile gracing his features, "I'm glad to know that a rational person does exist out there somewhere. I hope you can continue with that virtue for my third bit. Charlie is a really nice guy. I mean I am a bit bias, but just the same. If you're his daughter or not, he feels so bad for what happened yesterday. I know he regrets any of us having to hear that story, especially given how it happened. He's absolutely miserable thinking he's hurt you, and he wants to do whatever he can to help make it right. Whenever you're ready, if you're interested, he'd be more than happy to take a paternity test. I think no matter what happens he wants to apologize to you."

"I don't blame Charlie for anything in the slightest," I said before I began to break down any more than I already was, "It's was just a really hard thing to hear. And I certainly wasn't prepared to meet him, let alone listen to that story. He did what he had to do, what he thought was right, and I can't ask for more than that. I just need time to process, it was like this bomb was dropped into my life yesterday morning, and I'm still trying to pick up the pieces. I'm sure yesterday wasn't easy for anyone really."

"It wasn't," he said in a near whisper, "But since when is life supposed to be easy right?" he let out a single laugh and shook his head, "Although, that brings me to my final point. I'm here for you Bella. I know we don't know each other as well as you know Edward, or even Rose or Alice, but if you need someone else to talk about, I'm here. If you want to talk more about the family, or if you need help dealing with those minxes, or anything at all, I'm here for you. I hate to see pretty girls upset, especially ones who could be my long lost sister, and I pride myself in going to great lengths to get people to smile when they're feeling down."

"Thanks Emmett," I said, giving him a genuine smile, "I really appreciate that. And I appreciate you coming to talk to me. Alice is lucky to have such a nice brother, Rose such a caring boyfriend, and Charlie such a good man for a son. I'm sure they'd all be proud of you if they knew you came here. And I know you've actually already made me feel a bit better by doing so."

Emmett leaned down and gave me a big hug, "I'm happy to help. Seriously, if you want to talk just let me know."

"I will," I smiled a bit wider at him, "Don't be too surprised if it happens relatively soon actually."

"I won't," he laughed, "And don't tell anyone I was here. Well you can, I just don't want the ladies to know I was speaking for them. I may be big, but they'd still kick my ass."

"All anyone will know is that you came to check on me and we talked," I said sticking out my finger to him, "I pinky promise."

Emmett just gave me a silly sort of questioning glance before wrapping his stocky pinky around mine, "Pinky promise it is. Now go have some fun with Edward. You both deserve it."

"Thanks Em," I said, pulling my helmet over my head, "You have a good night too alright?"

"Yes mam."

When I got home, Edward was already there, waiting in his car. He got out quickly when he saw me ride up, kissing me passionately as soon as I got off.

"I was getting anxious," he said when our lips parted, "Did you have to stay late at work? I would have thought you'd be home earlier."

"Nope," I responded, "Actually Emmett came to check on me, we talked for a little bit."

"Oh," Edward said, sound surprised, "He say anything interesting?"

I shrugged noncommittally, "Like I said he was checking on me, offered his services as someone to confide in."

"Emmett's a nice guy," he said with a nod of his head.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to do tonight?" I asked as we walked in.

Edward shrugged, "I had no plans. I figured we could do whatever you wanted. I thought you might want to take it easy."

"Easy sounds good."

"I thought it might. I'm assuming you don't really want to talk any more about yesterday at this point," he said, half questioning with a raised eyebrow.

"Not at the moment, but maybe later. I promised Emmett I'd have fun tonight."

"Fun is always a good thing," Edward grinned.

"I think I might like to pick up from yesterday morning. I know we decided to have a day in bed, but nothing says we can't properly prepare ourselves in advance right?"

"Isabella Marie Swan, you are making some grand implications there," any attempts he made to make himself appear as if he were actually scolding me were completely overshadowed by the highly entertained look upon his face.

"Well Mr. Cullen, if you don't like my implications we can certainly do something else," I said as I unlocked my door.

"I never said a thing about not liking your implications Miss Swan; I merely stated that they were there."

"Oh I see. Pardon my confusion on the matter. So are you interested in my suggestion?"

"I could be quite easily persuaded."

"As a female, I am equipped with natural persuasive devices that should suffice in such a situation. If that's not enough for you…"I trailed off.

"Oh, I assure you that's plenty," Edward said with a wicked grin on his face, grabbing hold of me and guiding us to my bed.

We ended up ordering in Chinese for dinner, we watched bad TV, and Edward graciously helped me with my homework. When it got later, Edward lied down with me and we took turns reading out loud to each other until our eyelids grew heavy. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect night. The next morning, Edward hung out while I got ready for school. I left the bathroom door open so we could talk while I showered and prepared for my day.

"So I think I'm ready to talk to Alice and Rose, and maybe organize another time to talk to Charlie again. This time we can actually be prepared for each other."

"Yeah? Are you sure you're ready?"

"Well considering everything, I'm not sure I want to take this as slowly as I'd originally planned. We've all been pushed into the deep end of the pool right? The opportunity to take things slow has passed and now we've got to go for it."

"I guess that makes sense."

"I figure it's the best way to be fair to both me and the McCarthy's. If it were you in Charlie's situation you'd want to know right?"

"Absolutely. But I'd also understand, as I'm sure he would, if you weren't quite ready."

"I think of it like peeling off a band aid. You think it will be better if you go slowly, but really its better just to rip it off. Why prolong what at this point is the inevitable?"

"You're right," I heard him sigh, "I guess I'm just worried about what's going to happen. I don't want another fiasco like the other day. I was so worried about you, and I hate to think of you hurting like that."

"Well I don't want to go through that again either, and I expect that there will be some hurt along the way, but I was really caught off guard. I mean I had just barely wrapped my head around the possibility and then BOOM. And I won't lie; Charlie's story got me choked up. I can't imagine thinking that my child was dead and then twenty something years later finding out she might actually be alive. If he is my dad, then clearly he wanted me. If he is my dad then I'm even more grateful just to be alive."

"Well I'm grateful you're alive too. And I'm pretty sure Charlie's story choked all of us up. To hold onto that for so long," I pictured him shaking his head as he let out a heavy sigh, "And for Alice and Emmett to never have known…"

"I was surprised by that too. But I guess I get where they were coming from. Charlie and Renee would have had to wait until they were old enough to understand to tell them, and who really wants to open old wounds? I'm sure they had a hard enough time dealing with the loss of their child. I mean I may be reading too much between the lines, but it seems as if that contributed to their split."

"I don't know too much about that," Edward said, "Either way I really think that things worked out the best."

"Well the world does have a funny way of working itself out. Things don't always make sense when they happen, but then they turn out to be great. You know like people ordering hot black coffee in unseasonably warm weather."

"I stand by my coffee drinking habits. I feel completely justified in my actions and don't understand what you think doesn't make sense about it."

"Pffft," I spit out, coming out of the bathroom, "You should be happy about my reactions. What would have happened if I had just gotten you your coffee without saying anything?"

"Well, I still would have seen your gorgeous face," he said giving me a kiss, "So I probably would have come in a few more times to see if I made an impression on you before making a move."

"So you would have stalked me?" I said, putting a hand on my hip giving him a knowing look.

"Stalking is a bit extreme. I mean I had no idea what your schedule was and I certainly wouldn't have followed you home or anything. It would have been pure luck. Like when we met in the record store. Impromptu first date right?"

"Stop trying to out logic me. Or whatever it is that you're doing that is trying to one up me."

"I have no idea what you're referring to," Edward said batting his eyelashes innocently.

"Lies. Lucky for you I'm not going to waste any more time on this or I'm going to be late."

"You're almost done with your classes right?"

"That's right. Two weeks left after this."

"So then what?"

"What do you mean? Then what, what?"

"Well do you have the summer off or are you going to be taking more classes? Does your schedule change? What's going on?"

"My schedule does change, but we'll talk about it later. Really, don't want to be late. I had my late day yesterday."

"Remind me to thank Angela for that," Edward said with an emotion I couldn't quite identify in his voice, "I'm glad someone was able to take care of you, even if it wasn't me."

"Don't tell me you're jealous that Angela had to deal with me being a crying mess," I said glaring at him, "Because that's ridiculous."

"I am a little jealous. I also feel a little guilty. All of it is really ridiculous really, but you have to keep in mind, at the time I was terribly worried about you."

"Well you're sweet. I think. I know you would have taken care of me if you could. You have nothing to be guilty about, and there is no reason to be jealous of Angela. I've known her longer, but it's a totally different relationship. She's no you."

"I know," he sighed, "I told you I knew it was ridiculous. Anyway, let's get you going. Don't want to be late."

"Thank you," I said giving him a kiss before we were out the door.

**Sorry I'm a little later on that than I planned. I'm also not 100% sure when I'll be able to update next. This is a busy week for me and I've got some personal stuff going on. I should be able to get another update before next week though, so don't worry too much.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Thanks for all the reviews! And continued thanks for all the favoriting.**

**Only the plot is mine.**

Later in the day I spoke with Alice and Rose. They understood my feelings on the matter and agreed to never do something like that again without consulting me first. My anger about the situation was considered justified, and the pair apologized to me more times than I can count. After they had been forgiven, I told them that I had decided I now wanted to talk to Charlie, and most likely take a DNA test. Alice had been especially upset and had burst out sobbing, throwing herself onto me in a big hug. Rose rolled her eyes at this, but still allowed Alice to blabber about how she never wanted to hurt her sister again.

"Alright, alright we get it!" Rose finally came to my rescue pulling Alice off of me, "You're feeling a wide range of emotion. You're very upset to have hurt Bella, very grateful that she has forgiven you, and very excited at the prospect of having a sister. We understand. Now calm yourself before Bella decides she's better off not knowing if she's related to you or not."

Alice simply nodded her head, unable to speak. She wiped the tears from her eyes and let out a few hiccups, giving me a feeble smile. I shot Rose a "thank you" glance and pat Alice on the shoulder.

"And I thought I was a mess," I teased.

"I do tend to be an emotional person from time to time," Alice said when she had regained her composure, "But I usually have myself in check better than that. I'm sorry. I think it's just because I'm close to my period, and I've been so stressed out since Sunday…."

"Just don't do it again," Rose said almost threateningly, but I could tell the love between the two was there.

"So Bella did you want me and Emmett to join you when you talk to dad, or do you want to do it alone?" Alice asked, moving forward.

"I'm not sure," I frowned, "I think I want both," I laughed bitterly, "Maybe I can start with all three of you and then if Charlie and I are comfortable enough for it we can talk more privately?"

Alice nodded her head, "I'm sure we can do that."

"I think it's a good plan," Rose added, "The four of you can piece together a few things. I'm sure you all have questions for each other. And if I know Charlie, he's going to have a hard time expressing himself, especially with three of you there. I think he'll want the opportunity to talk to you alone as well."

"Thanks guys," I said with a soft smile, "I don't want to rush anyone into this, I just think at this point, for everyone's sake, it will be better to do this sooner rather than later."

"I'll call Emmett and dad right now if you want," Alice offered, "See if we can work a time out that works for all of us?"

"Thank you," I said, accepting her offer, "That would be nice." Alice smiled at me and went off to make her phone calls.

Rose hugged me, taking me by surprise, whispering an apology in my ear as she did so.

"Really Rosalie, its ok," I assured her, "Nothing to apologize for."

"Ok," she nodded her head, sitting down next to me, "So how are things with you and Edward?"

I blushed, "Very good. He's been very supportive this whole time."

"Alice told me you spent the night after the concert," she said, getting to her point.

"I did," I said, continuing to blush, "And he stayed over last night."

"I don't want details seeing as he's my cousin, but is he treating you well?"

"Oh he is," I said grinning, "I assure you he's doing just fine in that department. Actually in every department really."

"I'm glad to hear it," Rose smiled, "You deserve happiness. Both of you do. Turns out you don't need my relationship help after all huh?"

"I guess not," I blushed, "I'm usually so nervous when it comes to relationships, I have such a hard time getting to know people. This time it was just different."

"Bella, you're so cute," Rose said smirking at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing," she said in a sing-songy kind of voice.

I knew she had something on her mind, but I didn't bother pressing it. I already had enough going on. Alice got off the phone shortly after. I was shocked when she told me that Emmett and Charlie had both said that they would be available tomorrow morning. I guess I'm not the only anxious one. Edward, offered to come over when Alice and Rose left, but I declined. I knew I wasn't going to sleep well and I didn't want him to suffer as well.

Come six o'clock when I just can't sleep any more, I decide to text Edward, on the off chance that he's up. Half an hour later I get a text back saying he will be at my apartment in fifteen minutes. He grabs hold of my face and kisses me as soon as I've opened up the door for him to come in. I begin apologizing for bothering him so early in the morning, but he's quick to talk over me.

"Are you alright? How much did you sleep last night? I can stay with you the whole time if you want, or if you're uncomfortable we can always call it off and reschedule."

"Edward, I'm fine. I'm just anxious," I said trying to reassure him, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. Shouldn't these roles be reversed?

"Are you sure?" He asked, his eyes searching mine for any traces of doubt.

"Positive. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're more worked up than I am."

He lets out a long breath, "I guess I am. I'm sorry I'm so useless, I guess I'm just nervous for you."

"I can't say I blame you," I sigh, "It's been a rough few days. And to answer your question, I didn't sleep very well last night, but that was expected. Nothing a good dosing of espresso can't fix right? I feel like a kid right before the first day of school."

"Well, things could be a lot worse then right?"

"They could be way worse. I'm in a relatively good place right now."

"Good," he nodded his head, "You're meeting them at eight right?"

"Yup," I said, drawing out the 'p' a smidge.

"Do you want me to come?" Edward asked, concern etched across his face.

"I don't know," I frowned, "I mean Jasper and Rose won't be there right? I don't want to make things more awkward than they already are. From what I can tell, Charlie's a pretty private guy and I don't want him to feel like everything's on display. I think we are going to want to talk one on one anyway," I sighed, "Just knowing that you would be there if I needed you is enough I think."

"Okay," he said sounding unsure, "But Bella, promise me that if you need me you'll call me right away okay? And then I'll come running."

"That sounds like a cheesy love song," I said, smiling, "But yes, I promise. And I will call you as soon as it's all over to let you know how it went."

"Good," he said kissing my forehead.

We spent some time just relaxing, Edward doing his best to keep me calm and act as if it were any other day. Being in his arms did relax me, but as soon as we were in his car, my nerves were making an appearance. I'm sure Edward could sense my nervousness, but he remained silent, which I found better than filling the air with mindless chatter. He kissed me when we arrived at the house. He let me out of the car and walked me up to the door. When Emmett opened the door, we said our goodbyes and he kissed me again before leaving. Emmett was unusually quiet as he lead me into the house. He brought me into the living room where Charlie was pacing nervously, rubbing his hands on the side of his legs. He stopped when he saw me, and walked over, handing his hand out to me for him to shake.

"Hi Bella, glad you could come," he said as I shook his hand, "Make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks," I said sitting down, "I appreciate you having me over."

"Bella!" Alice said, happily greeting me from the doorway, "Can I get you anything? Juice? Coffee? Tea? Did you eat breakfast? I made some fruit salad."

"I want some of that fruit salad," Emmett said standing up, "Dad?"

"Uh, sure," Charlie said nodding his head, "Coffee too please."

"No more coffee for me, but fruit salad sounds great," I said giving Alice a smile, "Need any help?"

"Oh no," Alice said as she retreated into the kitchen, "That's what Emmett is for. You just stay comfortable."

"Oh. Okay," I said, turning my attention back to Charlie, "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me so soon."

"I felt just awful after Sunday," Charlie said his face betraying very little emotion, although it was clear that he was struggling, "I figured if it's what you wanted it'd be best for all of us to meet sooner rather than later."

"That's what I thought too," I said softly, "We've gotten the worst of it over right? I'm hoping that this just smooth's over some bumps and ties up some loose ends."

"I hope so too," Charlie said quietly.

"Here you go," Alice said coming back into the room holding some dishes, Emmett along side. They handed out the dishes and sat down themselves.

The four of us spent about an hour and a half talking about Alice and Emmett's life growing up. Charlie expanded more on what he had shared on Sunday. I asked a few questions about Renee, although everyone mostly had positive things to say about her, it was obviously a sore subject. When she and Charlie divorced, Alice and Emmett lived with her for a while in Phoenix. She got remarried to a guy named Phil who played baseball, so he traveled a lot. Alice and Emmett could see she would be happier if she were traveling with him, so they came back and moved in with Charlie. Renee called and talked to them once a week and they saw her at every holiday, for a few weeks during the summer, and on their birthday, at least for the first few years. As they got older, they all just grew apart. Alice and Emmett stopped spending any of the summer with her, and eventually they only saw her at Christmas. The weekly phone calls turned into biweekly phone calls, and there were longer awkward pauses.

Both of the kids assured me that they knew how much she loved and cared about them, but she was just not the most maternal. Alice also mentioned that once she was old enough to pick up on such things, she noticed how said Renee would get around their birthday. She said that she asked her about it once, and Renee had just said that she was just struck by her children getting older. Emmett said that he often thought that marrying Phil was Renee restarting her life. Charlie got a bit choked up talking about her, it was clear that he had continued to love her, despite the divorce. He went into more detail about the wedge that formed between them from the loss of their child. Apparently she had gotten extremely depressed for a long period when Alice and Emmett were very young, and that she often had a hard time taking care of them alone. He said that after their first birthday, she was so bad that she refused to look at her kids, or even her husband. Eventually Charlie forced her into therapy, something that Alice and Emmett had been unaware of. He apologized to them several times when he was talking about Renee and their childhood, wishing he could go back in time and do better by them. He and Renee however agreed that they were too young and it would be best if they didn't know about it until they were older. Somehow when they were over, it didn't seem like an important enough bit of information to bother sharing, as there was nothing anyone could do about the past. Charlie also confessed that he was afraid of what would happen to Renee if he brought up the subject again. Alice and Emmett both accepted his apologizes, telling him that they understood where he was coming from and that it was not something that they would hold against him.

Despite the fact that my body was still, I felt like I was shaking when Alice and Emmett left, so that I could have some time with Charlie. Somehow I felt guilty for breaking apart their family, and I was nervous about spending time one on one with him. He must have been just as nervous as I was, but we started off slowly. He shared with me some old photographs, some before the pair were married, some while Renee was pregnant and a few choice photos of infancy. He even kept the ultrasound photos, pointing out what he suspected to potentially be me.

"Bella, I really don't know what to say to you," he said, sounding sad, "If you are my daughter, I regret so much not being there for you while you grew up. If you are my daughter, you are a miracle. I honestly thought you were dead. I saw your last breath..I swear…I shouldn't have given up. I should have demanded more from the doctor, I should have kept trying. Then maybe things would be different now. I'm sorry I failed you. I'm sorry I didn't do more."

"Charlie, it's not your fault. I'm sure I would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes. If I thought I had seen my child die and I had a wife and two other children to go back to, I would have made my peace and done my best to move on. That's all that you did, you were supporting those you knew you still had. If I turns out you are my father, then I will be very pissed at the hospital. I can clearly tell that if you could have your other daughter, you would. I know that you wouldn't have abandoned me if you had known."

"I never would have," he said cutting me off, "And if I'm not your father, and some did make the choice to leave you, they're bastards. Honestly, I don't know why anyone would willingly choose not to have you in their life. I barely know you, and considering how much hurt I've put you through, you are still the most gracious and forgiving person I've ever met. I can tell that you are truly a good person and you deserve to have a much better life than the one that you grew up with. Bella if you are my daughter, and I do think that you very well could be, I will do everything in my power to do right by you."

A few tears that I didn't know were there trickled down my face, "Really?"

"Really," he said taking my hand into his, "If you want to, I will take a paternity test right now, and we can get to the bottom of this."

"I t-think," I stuttered out, "I think I would like that."

Charlie smiled at me and a tear trailed down his crinkled face, "Hopefully we can figure this all out in a matter of days."

Alice and Emmett had just gone to the park two blocks away, and were back within five minutes of Charlie calling them. I called Edward, and he said he would meet us at the hospital. Carlisle, his father, would do the test for us. He and Charlie were friendly and he was aware of our situation. My stomach was churning as we drove to the hospital, not only was I that much closer to figuring out my history, but I was also meeting my boyfriend's father for the first time. The second fact had not seemed to have crossed anyone else's mind. It was not my primary focus, but a voice in the back of my head reminded me of it. When we got there, I tried to straighten myself out, hoping I looked decent, wiping my sweaty palms off on my pants so that it wouldn't be too gross when I had to shake his hand.

Edward met us at the entrance and held my hand as he guided us to his father's office. I knew he was holding his tongue, so that he didn't bombard me. He would have many questions, and I'm sure that he wanted to comfort me, but just like this morning, he somehow knew that silence was what I needed.

"Dad?" he said knocking on the closed door softly.

The door opened revealing a handsome man. He was not quite as tall as Edward, but he was just as handsome for an older man. I knew at the very least he had to be in his mid to late forties, but he could have easily passed for his mid-thirties. Edward shared many of his facial features, but Jasper had inherited his hair. He was smiling and looked quite comforting.

"Hello," he spoke softly, his eyes twinkling at us, "Won't you all come in?" He opened his door wide gesturing at the space inside.

"Carlisle, it's good to see you," said Charlie as we stepped in, "Thank you for helping us out with this."

"Oh it's no trouble at all. You must be Bella," He said flashing his pearly whites at me, holding out his hand, "I am very pleased to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"It's nice to meet you too, sir," I said smiling at him, enjoying the warm embrace of his hand shake.

"Oh please, call me Carlisle, none of this 'sir' stuff," he said sitting down at his desk.

"Of course," I said with a blush.

"So I have a couple of short forms for the two of you to fill out," he said to Charlie and I, "And given the situation, simple finger pricks for blood samples."

I blanched, I hated blood. Given the amount of injuries I'd sustained over the years, I wasn't as bad with blood as I once was, but I still wasn't a fan. In any case Charlie and I both filled out the paper work, which really wasn't much, and I prepared myself for the prick. Carlisle did Charlie first, and then assured me I would be fine while reminding me to breathe. In the background Emmett teased me, and Alice hit him, and told him to shut up, but he had managed to distract me. Carlisle was putting a Band-Aid across my finger before I even realized he had pricked me.

"Now we should have the results between forty-eight and seventy-two hours," Carlisle said standing up, "Would you like to be together when we deliver the results or should we contact you separately?"

Charlie and I looked at each other and came to a silent agreement, "Together," he answered for us and I nodded my head to affirm this decision.

"Excellent," Carlisle said smiling at us, "I'll call you and set up a time for you both to come in, and in the meantime if you have any questions or concerns feel free to call me."

"Thank you Carlisle," Charlie said, shaking his hand once more, "I've got to get to work," he said, addressing Emmett and Alice at this point.

"Would you two like to accompany me to lunch?" Carlisle asked Edward and I, "Bella I understand entirely if you wish to decline for today, but Esme is stopping by and I know she would very much like to meet you."

"Dad," Edward began, but I cut him off.

"That sounds great," I said, "I could use a meal before work."

"Great," Carlisle said, "I a few quick things to finish up here, so I'll meet you two downstairs in a bit."

"Alright dad," Edward said, but his focus was on me, "We'll see you shortly."

The McCarthy's had somehow disappeared in the brief time we had been talking, but I just figured they wanted a moment of privacy as did we. Edward was quiet until we got into the elevator.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, "Not that I'm trying to talk you out of it. I just know it's been a full morning."

"I'm sure," I said smiling at him, "I mean I want your dad's first impression of me to be more than just a doctor/patient interaction. It's only fair that your mom gets to meet me on the same day right?"

"I suppose," Edward mused, "How were things with Charlie?"

"It went really well. Everyone got a little emotional, but that's to be expected. If he is my dad, which I think both of us feel is a strong possibility, I don't feel like he intentionally abandoned me. He was so apologetic, to me and Em and Ali about the whole thing. I think he blames himself for not doing more when his daughter was born," I sighed, "He seems to want to make up for lost time."

Edward nodded his head, "I hadn't really thought about it before, but you do have similar personalities in that aspect. You both internalize a lot of things that aren't your fault, and want to make right by everyone."

"What's wrong with that?" I raised my eyebrow at him, "And when do I do it?"

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with it," he said as we sat down on the bench, "And you've been doing it this whole time. Most people in your situation wouldn't be able to think about anyone but themselves, and you are so concerned about what's best for everyone, and not just you. You're rare type of person who puts other people first, and feels guilty when you think you're focusing on yourself too much."

"Oh," I said unsure of how to respond, "So should I be preparing myself for anything during this lunch?"

Edward just laughed at my abrupt subject changed, and I marveled at how his eye twinkled in the light.

**Thanks for reading! I hope the extra length made up for the delay in the update. I have this week off and I'm going on vacation at some point (I'm not sure when yet), so I'm not sure when I'll have an update, but you'll get one before next week. **


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry about the delay! Despite a horrible thunderstorm putting a tree down in the middle of the road and knocking out the power, I had a great vacation. Hope you guys had a good week too!**

**Thanks to everyone for all the reviews etc.**

**As usual, I do not own the characters, only the plot.**

Esme Cullen was nothing short of gorgeous. She had curly honey colored hair, and much like her husband looked quite fantastic for her age. She had the same piercing green eyes Edward did, and a soft face much like Jasper's. She was a friendly woman, she hugged me at first sight. She met us just a few minutes before Carlisle came down.

"Bella, it's so nice to meet you," Esme beamed, "Edward has told us so much about you."

"Oh," I said suddenly feeling very awkward, "Err its very nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Cullen. Edward only has good things to say about you're and your husband."

"Oh, Esme, please dear," she said to me, "None of this Mrs. Cullen stuff. Ah now here's Carlisle."

"Hello dear," he said coming and kissing her on the cheek, "Shall we go?"

Carlisle and Esme took us to an Italian restaurant that I had never noticed before. It a hole in the wall space, but it was actually quite charming. There were very few people in the restaurant, and the employees spoke to the patrons as if they were part of the family. When we walked in we weren't seated by a hostess, instead one of the waiters simply smiled and nodded at Carlisle, giving the impression that we were free to sit wherever we wanted. Carlisle and Esme directed us to a table near the window. This was clearly a place Carlisle frequented.

"I've never noticed this place before," I commented, checking out the decorations on the wall.

"Oh it's a great little place," Carlisle commented, "Most people don't notice it. I worked at the hospital for five years before I came across it actually. Their food is excellent."

"Any suggestions?" Edward asked, eyeing the menu on the chalk board.

"Oh honestly everything is delicious. I think I've tried everything on the menu over the years and enjoyed all of it. However, the eggplant parmesan is one of my favorites," Carlisle responded licking his lips.

"Ech," Edward blanched

"Oh I would have thought by now you would have gotten over your distaste of eggplant," Carlisle said and had he been a younger man, I'm sure he would have rolled his eyes.

"Edward dear, you should try the stuffed shells, they're quite delicious. Bella do you like veal? They have some of the best veal I've ever had," Esme commented.

"I've never actually had veal," I said blushing softly as if my lack of culinary experience was something to be ashamed of.

"Oh you should try it," Esme gushed, "It's just to die for."

Carlisle nodded his head in agreement, "It is quite delicious. Veal is something everyone should try at least once."

"I guess I'm feeling adventurous," I said shrugging a bit.

"You don't have any food allergies do you?" Carlisle asked as the waiter that had nodded at him earlier was heading over.

"Just kiwi, that I know of anyway," I answered.

The waiter greeted Carlisle and the two spoke for a moment before Carlisle ordered for the table.

"I hope you don't take offense," Carlisle said in regards to ordering for us, "I'm not usually so forward, especially when I have just met someone. I just know the food well."

Edward looked embarrassed, but I wasn't too phased, "Oh no, I'm not offended. In fact it's probably for the best. Saves me the trouble of trying to pick something out."

"I understand what you mean," Esme said, "I have the same problem. Sometimes I think Carlisle hates going out to dinner with me. It takes me forever to decide what I want to eat, everything always looks so good."

"I never hate going out with you," Carlisle said to Esme, taking a hold of her hand, "Quite the contrary, I enjoy it whole heartedly."

Esme grew flush and I felt as if I were intruding on an intimate moment. Edward rolled his eyes.

"Really?" he questioned staring down his parents.

"What, exactly, is wrong with showing my wife some affection hmm?" Carlisle said, raising his eyebrow at his son.

"Nothing," Edward was quick to quip back, "I just don't know why you have to do it now."

Carlisle opened his mouth to respond, but Esme was quick to interject, "He's right Carlisle. Today is really about Bella."

My face grew hot as all three of them turned to look at me. I felt like I was on display at the zoo.

"Of course, where are my manners?" Carlisle said with a chuckle, "Edward tells us you are quite the photographer."

"Oh, I'm not sure I'd go quite so far," I said looking down, "I dabble really. I'm nothing special."

"Don't be so modest," Edward said, "She's actually done a few freelance projects around the city. Gotten great reviews from customers."

I looked up at him, shooting him daggers with my eyes. Edward knew quite well I did not like being the center of attention and that I certainly was somewhat private when it came to my accomplishments. Never the less, his parents seem genuinely interested. Edward went on to tell them about how I had decorated my apartment, which Esme became quite animated about. When she found out that I was coordinating with Alice to work on some new band art, she practically bubbled over with excitement, asking me if she could stop by to observe. I was grateful when our meals came and I was no longer the topic of conversation.

Over the course of the meal I began to feel much more comfortable. It was like being part of a typical family bonding over a meal. Carlisle told us a story of one of his more interesting patients he had met with earlier in the day. Esme complained about how the person who's living room she was redesigning had no taste. Edward shared a joke he had heard that morning at the bank. Feeling much more normal than I had talking about my art, I even ventured so far as to comment on how my upcoming finals, and how Edward had helped me through the end of my semester.

When it came time for all of us to part ways, I felt almost empty. In the car ride, I shared with Edward my impression of his parents and he seemed quite pleased. He assured me that he was certain that they had enjoyed my company as well. He told me to expect an invitation to a family dinner sometime in the near future. According to him, Esme loved to entertain and would be more than happy to have me included. I was glad everything had turned out so well for this impromptu meeting. However as Edward kissed me goodbye the reason I had originally met Carlisle came back to me, and I became anxious again. I began a countdown until when I expected to get my results, and my afternoon became a monotonous blur. Later that evening I got a call from Alice, the conversation was not what I had expected.

"Okay so for our birthday party, I was thinking we could potentially theme it off of your favorite book, assuming the book you choose is something reasonable to theme a party around," she stated as if this party where the most important thing we needed to discuss today.

"Oh," I said in shock, "I dunno. I mean I guess I'm just caught off guard by this."

"Why?" she asked as if it were the most obvious thing, "I told you I wanted time to plan in advance. I can only give you so much time to think before I have to go with another theme."

"Well after this morning and then lunch, I guess the party slipped my mind. Didn't seem so important you know?"

"Lunch? What lunch? What happened?"

"Oh, I ended up having lunch with Edward's parents. Kind of intimidating meeting them for the first time completely unprepared, but it went well."

"Edward took you to lunch with Carlisle and Esme? I'm surprised. Aren't they just lovely? They're both fantastic people, so nice and friendly. I adore Esme, the two of us get along so well. Such a sweet heart. And Carlisle is just the most compassionate man. It's no wonder their sons are so marvelous."

"Surprised? Why are you surprised? And they are just wonderful. Edward told me to expect an invitation to family dinner…"

"Oh it's nothing, I just guess I hadn't thought about it really. Edward has only ever introduced his parents to one girl before. I know you guys are serious, it shouldn't have been such a shock to me, silly really…"

"Really? Well Carlisle asked, maybe he only did it because he felt obligated? Maybe if it weren't for the blood test…"

Alice interrupted me, "Trust me Bella, he would have gotten you out of there quickly if he didn't want you to interact with Carlisle. He would have certainly said no to his father if he weren't ready for you to meet his parents. No he must have wanted this."

"Ella Enchanted," I blurted out, my favorite book when I was a child, "That's my favorite book. Or it was anyway, I loved it growing up. I still have a place for it in my heart."

"Hmmm isn't that Disney movie with Anne Hathway based off that?"

"Yes, but very loosely. It was an awful comparison actually. The book is much better. I mean, I know it's really just Cinderella, but she was just so spunky. Much more interesting than the classic Cinderella."

"Well I'll have to check it out," Alice mused, "I'll see what I can do with it. Cinderella may be too girly for Emmett."

Alice prattled on about the party and we spoke for a while more, but my mind just kept wandering back to what she had said about Edward and contemplating the significance of it. That night as I got ready for bed, I thought about our relationship. We had grown very close over the past several weeks, and I trusted him almost as much as I trusted Angela. He had given every indication that he viewed me in the same way, and he had seemed glad that I got along well with his parents. I would definitely classify our relationship as a serious one. Was I falling in love with Edward Cullen? Was he falling in love, or even already in love with me? It seemed so obvious, I didn't know how I hadn't noticed it before. I fell asleep to these thoughts of Edward, and when I woke up in the morning he was still on my brain. While in the shower I thought about the countdown I had going, and ended up in there for nearly forty-five minutes.

For the rest of the day and a half my thoughts were bouncing back and forth between Edward and my upcoming test results. I went through the motions of my daily life, unable to concentrate on anything. At work Angela repeated the same thing to me four times before she gave up entirely. Alice had talked to me about party planning, and I had agreed to something, but I have no idea what. In any case she seemed excited. She told me I was going to love it and that she would email me details later. I kept half talking to Edward about what was on my mind, and then chickened out part way through each time. I'm sure he thought it was strange, but he didn't say anything and I figure he chalked it up to my nerves. I felt bad for him, he seemed to be carefully calculating every movement, every word he said when he was with me. I could tell he didn't want to risk getting me upset and it seemed as if he had a backup plan for every scenario, just in case things went South. I knew he was trying to balance keeping things normal with keeping things easy, and I kept apologizing to him for putting him through this and thanking him for dealing with me. Both actions were not accepted as I'd hoped they would be by him, but were kind of waved off until I gave up entirely. I had gotten a look from him that said 'that's what I'm here for stop making me seem like a hero for doing what I should be doing' one too many times.

Thursday night he came over after rehersal to stay with me since Friday was the day my results were due. Friday morning Edward offered to make me breakfast, but I turned him down. I refused to eat anything, but I did begrudgingly drink a glass of orange juice slowly. He offered to anything at all that I wanted, but I didn't know what I wanted. He said we could go to Pike Place as I normally would, but I couldn't stand the thought of that. What if Carlisle called while we were out? Alice had told me that Charlie decided to go in as soon as possible after getting the call to find out the results, so I knew we would be finding out as soon as possible. Instead I chose to do nothing, sitting idly by staring at the TV. I didn't even care if there was something on it or not, so I like Edward choose what we watched. At noon, just as Edward was trying to get me to eat again, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Bella? It's Carlisle. We have the results."

"Oh great! Have you talked to Charlie?"

"I have and he says he can come in right away, if that would be good for you."

"Right away, yes, yes I can do that!"

"Alright," he chuckled, "I will see you soon then."

"Thank you!"

Edward looked at me and I nodded, practically running over to my shoes and putting them on.

"Come on let's go," I said tugging on Edward's arm.

"Hold your horses! Do you have your keys?" He asked looking down at me, clearly already knowing the answer.

"Shit," I said turning to go in search of them, but Edward just laughed and dangled them in my face.

"I have them, and I will take you right now on one condition," he said smirking at me.

"What?" I sighed exasperatedly.

"No matter what happens, after we get the results, you will let me take you out to get some lunch."

"Fine!" I practically shouted at him, "Now let's go!"

Despite my urgings Edward would not speed to get to the hospital. I also didn't listen to his logic that if we got there before Charlie, which was quite likely, we would have to wait anyway, so there was no sense in rushing to get there. How he put up with my whining I will never know. I was acting like a young child throwing a temper tantrum, a behavior I ironically never did when I was a child. When we did arrive, Charlie was not there just as Edward had predicted. Seeing how worked up I was, Carlisle insisted I sit, drink some water, and had me do some breathing exercises to calm me down. Charlie arrived shortly after we did, and he looked quite nervous himself. Carlisle led us into his office, Edward opting to stay outside, insisting that this was a private moment.

After Charlie and I had sat down, Carlisle spoke as he opened the envelope, "I haven't looked at the results yet myself. It seemed cruel for me to know before either of you."

"You didn't have to do that Doc," Charlie said, "We would have understood."

Carlisle smiled, "As much as I appreciate that, it would have been unnecessary for me to look, and I daresay that you'd agree that much would be unfair."

Charlie and I were silent, but I did nod my head.

"Without further ado," Carlisle said, glancing over the results before sliding the piece of paper across the desk to us, "Charlie it is 99.9% certain that Bella is in fact your daughter."

**Now what? What do you all think? I should have another chapter tomorrow or Sunday.**

**Thanks for reading, and reviews are lovely :)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thanks for the reviews! Also to everyone who keeps adding my story to your favorites/alerts thanks for checking out my work :)**

**I don't own the characters, just the plot.**

I picked up the document reading it over repeatedly as Carlisle's words sunk in. I had a family. Alice and Emmett were my siblings. We were triplets. Charlie was my dad. At that thought I turned to look at him, and I was shocked to see that he had tears on his face.

"I'll give you a minute," Carlisle said, getting up and exiting the room.

"I'm so very sorry Bella," Charlie said, "I have no idea how you got separated from us, but neither of us, Renee either, wanted to give you up."

"Charlie," I began, getting choked up.

"Bella I swear I'll get to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I do. It's the least I can do for you, after all you went through…"

"Thank you," I said softly, trying my hardest to stifle the tears.

"Now," he began as if this revelation was not a big deal and was just an accepted fact, "You and that Edward Cullen, you're together yes?"

I nodded my head and raised an eyebrow at him confused.

"I think he's a good kid, but I'll look into it. His brother's been to Alice, but I won't have any daughter of mine dating some guy who's just good at making appearances," he said quite seriously, "If he hurts you at all, I'll take him out."

I couldn't help but laugh, the tears gone, "He _is_ a good guy Charlie. Don't you worry."

"I'll be looking into him just the same," he said gruffly, "I suppose we should tell Alice and Emmett huh? And someone needs to call Renee…I guess that's really my responsibility," he sighed as if he weren't looking forward to the conversation.

"Um, well I can tell Alice and Emmett if you want," I offered, "I can text them right now, unless you think it should be done in person?"

"Nah, I'm sure they're both waiting to hear the results pretty anxiously. They knew today was probably going to be the day. I'm sure a text will suffice for now."

I nodded my head and got out my phone, sending them both the same message.

**I guess you do have another sibling after all :)**

I thought that would be enough, and I was actually looking forward to their responses.

"Alright, I've told them, now to just wait for the fanfare response," I chuckled.

"I guess we should let Carlisle have his office back," Charlie smiled at me. We both stood up and while the door was still shut, I hugged him, and he squeezed me tightly back, "Bella I promise I'll never let you get away again. I know there's no way to change the past and you grew up without us, but you're my daughter and I love you. I hope you can come to love me and Alice and Emmett as well, and accept us as your family."

"Charlie, I couldn't have possible found out I was part of a better family," I said sincerely.

He looked at me, his face crinkled into a smile as he gave me one last squeeze before letting me go and opening the door to Carlisle's office. Carlisle and Edward were both waiting for us at the door, expectant looks on their faces. Edward took me into his arms and gave me a hug, whispering a quick 'congratulations' in my ear.

"I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of sharing the news with Edward," Carlisle said, "He was quite anxious to find out the results himself."

Charlie nodded his head at Carlisle and stared at Edward who then turned to speak to him, "Sir, I want to be very up front with you. Your daughter and I are in a relationship, and we have been for several weeks now. She's very important to me and I would never do anything to hurt her. In fact if I found out that you have in any way intentionally hurt her, I would take corrective measures to ensure that it will never happen again. I don't mean any disrespect at all, I know you as a good man, but if that were to ever change you have the right to know what to expect."

"Son," Charlie began, a stony look on his face, completely unreadable, "You do realize I was the chief of police in Forks and although I don't get so involved in the action anymore, I am still a cop."

"I understand," Edward said, his chin jutting out.

"I was going to give you a very similar speech in regards to your treatment of my daughter, whom I hold in the highest regard despite the limited time I have had her in my life. However, given that we currently have the same goals in regards to her wellbeing, I will spare you. Suffice to say I will not hesitate to teach you a lesson if something should happen to her. You brother can give you more details if you're curious. I was very thorough when he started dating Alice," Charlie's face cracked into a smile and he offered his hand out to Edward, as a sort of informal agreement. Edward shook his hand in a manly way, and I heard Carlisle chuckle in the background.

"Bella I apologize if you're offended my wife and I did not provide such a threat," he said to me, his eyes twinkling, "However I suspect that any mistreatment Edward suffers at your hand will be deserved and I am willing to turn a blind eye. In fact if it should come to that and you need some help I'm sure we can arrange something."

The blush that had crossed my face as Edward and Charlie discussed my treatment dissipated at this and I couldn't help but grin.

"Dad," Edward practically whined, his face in state of disbelief.

"I knew I liked you," Charlie said shaking his finger at Carlisle.

"I like to think of myself as an adept father," Carlisle grinned.

The three of them got into some sort of manly family related discussion and I took that as an opportunity to check my phone. As I suspected I had several messages from Alice, but I chose to read the singular one from Emmett first.

**Cool. Welcome to the family sis.**

I loved his simplicity, I couldn't help but grin.

**Thanks Em. If you feel the need to participate in some brotherly protection thing, now seems to be the time to threaten Edward.**

Then I looked at all Alice had to say to me.

**I KNEW we were connected. Yay!**

**I'm so happy to have a sister! Although Emmett did let me give him a few make overs back in the day.**

**Then again, you probably would have helped me pretty him up.**

**Our party has to be EXTRA special this year I can't wait :)**

**Does this make up for my colossal mistake? I mean we avoided all those awkward years of sibling rivalry and teen fights.**

Oh Alice.

**If you have pictures of Emmett's make overs, I'll be even more forgiving.**

"You owe me lunch," Edward whispered in my ear, making me jump.

I hit him in response when I calmed down, "You scared the shit outta me! Don't do that!"

"Ow," he said feigning injury, rubbing where I had hit him, "I didn't mean to! You didn't have to hit me so hard."

I ignored his pouty face, "Don't be such a baby. I didn't hit you that hard. Besides, you learned your lesson didn't you?"

"Don't startle you, got it," he grumbled, "Can we go now?"

"Sure," I said smiling at him, to which he just stuck out his tongue. I rolled my eyes at him, and said goodbye to Charlie. I promised him that we would get together on Sunday, no surprises this time. Edward lead me out of the hospital, over to his car.

"Where to?" he asked when we got in. I just shrugged in response, "So I get to choose then?"

"I guess so," I said, "I'm not really picky. Although now that I don't feel like I have T-Rex sized butterflies in my stomach I am pretty hungry."

"Ok in that case how does a diner sound?" he asked looking at me to gauge my reaction.

"That sounds great," I smiled at him and we were off.

"You know Bella, I've never thought about it until now, but do you know how to drive?" he asked as we sped down the road.

"I have my license," I answered, "But I haven't driven in years, so I'm probably a little rusty. I went through driving school after I turned eighteen, but I never got a car of my own. I didn't have the money for anything like that. I was lucky enough to have friends who would bring me wherever I couldn't get on my bike."

"Do you want to drive sometime? I'd be happy to let you use my car if you want to," Edward questioned smiling at me.

"Are you sure you want to offer that? I literally haven't driven in like three years. I don't think I'm any good," I answered.

"I can help you practice. I know a few mostly empty parking lots we can drive around in if you're really uncomfortable," he offered.

"Hmmm maybe," I half-heartedly agreed, "But not today. I'm not ready."

"You let me know when you want to go and I'll take you," he said looking me in the eye as we parked.

"Okay, I will, now let's eat," I said getting out of the car licking my lips at the smells coming from the diner.

After lunch we had a lazy after wandering through Pike Place. When we got to the record store that prompted what ended up being our first date, my thoughts turned to Angela, Jessica, and our other friends. I told Edward about how they had gotten me the record player for my birthday a few years back and he told me to make sure Alice knew to get them invitations.

"I can't believe I forgot!" I shouted out when I realized I still hadn't told Angela the news. Heads of everyone in the store whipped to look at me and Edward shot me a questioning glance, and I got the impression he was taken aback, if not a bit embarrassed, by my sudden outburst.

"I need to text Angie," I said much more softly this time, "With all the excitement I completely forgot."

"Oh, right," was Edward's response as I quickly got my phone out of my purse and typed up the message. I got a response almost instantaneously; she must have been bored at work. She was excited for me and offered for forgo her Friday date night for margaritas with the girls, but I insisted that she enjoy her night with Ben and told her we could plans for Saturday evening instead. When I eventually looked back up at Edward he was staring at me smiling his head off.

"What?" I asked looking around as if I missed something.

"I've just never seen you so happy before," he explained, "It's nice."

"Oh," I blushed, "I just don't think I could possibly ask for a better life right now. I don't think I ever have been this happy. Not to say I've been depressed or anything, but it's like all the pieces of my life are falling into place all together for once. Usually one part of my life is great and everything else is kinda meh, you know?"

Edward nodded his head, "I get it. I'm happy for you. Actually I'm happy you're happy. To be honest I was very nervous about how things would turn out one way or another this afternoon. I thought there was a slim chance you might be angry at a positive result. I know you and Charlie talked about it the other day, but I think I'd still be pretty pissed at being abandoned, even if it was unintentional."

I shrugged, "I mean I am kind of jealous that Alice and Emmett got to live their lives as planned and I didn't get to experience it, but I really don't think it was anything my family had anything to do with. Charlie seems pretty intent on figuring out what did happen to me at the hospital and why he and Renee were under the impression I had died shortly after birth. I guess I just don't feel abandoned by them. Eventually I think I'll be mad at the hospital, but for right now I don't care, I've got my family back. That's all that really matters right? I mean I'm kind of nervous about what's going to happen with Renee, I know the 'death' caused a lot of problems between her and Charlie. This is going to open up some old wounds I'm sure and I don't want to cause any more grief than they've already suffered, but I'm optimistic."

"Bella you never stop amazing me," Edward sighed happily, "You're the strongest person I've ever met. I think all of those foster families were idiots for not wanting to keep you."

I blushed, "Well I'm glad how it worked out in the end. Karma right?"

Edward smiled and nodded at me, pulling me close and kissing my forehead. We stood there for a moment, enjoy the sweet bond, but then we were disturbed by the shrill ring of my phone.

"It's Alice," I said looking at Edward, trying to decide if I should answer or not.

"I'd pick it up," he said, "If you don't want to don't, but I won't hold it against you if you do."

I figured I probably should, "Hi Alice."

"Bella, Renee is coming. She's really confused, and really wants to meet you. She'll be here tomorrow."

"What?"

I heard Alice sigh on the other end, "I'm going to do my best to talk to her, but she's usually pretty persistent. She'll want to meet you right away."

"I can't say I blame her," I sigh heavily, "We at least had some fore warning. This was just sprung on her. I do want to meet her too. Is she angry?"

"I'm not really sure," Alice answered, I pictured her biting her lip, "I'll stay with you two the whole time if you want. I'm sure dad and Emmett will be there too."

"I think that's how it should be. Everyone. The whole family. This is a big deal for all of us."

"Bella you don't have to be so sacrificing. If it will be easier for you with less people…"

I cut her off, "No, I want everyone there. If they want to be there."

"You have to work in the morning right?"

"Yes. I usually get out around four, but I should be able to get out earlier if I need to."

"Okay, well I'll figure out better what's going on and get back to you okay?"

"Thanks Alice."

"That's what sisters are for."

I hung up the phone, and despite feeling overwhelmed, I smiled.

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Thanks for all the reviews and support :)**

**Per usual, not my characters.**

Emmett picked me up when I got out of work. He was his usual self, joking around as if this were any other day. I appreciated him not making a big deal out of it; he wasn't treating me like some delicate flower. When we got closer to the house, his demeanor changed.

"Bella, I just want you to know mom can be a bit emotional. I mean she can be a bit extreme. Actually you'll understand Alice a little better, and be grateful for her after this I think. But don't worry too much, everything will be fine," he said nodding his head at me with a smile.

"Thanks Em. For some reason I believe you," I returned his smile.

"Well that's your first mistake!" he laughed, "Rose will tell you I'm notorious for making the truth seem so much better than it actually is. In fact you might go as far to call me a master of the ability."

"Knock knock," I said abruptly changing the subject.

"Who's there?"

"Owls"

"Owls who?"

"Yes! They do!" I giggled and Emmett rolled his eyes at me, chuckling just the same.

"Bella you're an odd duck," he said, "My turn, knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Interrupting cow."

"Interrupting cow.."

"MOO!" Emmett practically screamed, or so it seemed in the enclosed space. I laughed and hit him softly on the arm, he was driving after all.

"Why was six afraid of seven?"

"I dunno," he said playing along, "Why?"

"Because seven eight nine!" We both cackled.

"Bella, two peanuts were walking down the street. One was a salted."

"Why couldn't the young pirate go see the movie?"

"Why?"

"Because it was rated Arrrrr!"

Our joking continued throughout the rest of the drive, and even continued as we walked into the house.

"I don't know what you did, but I stepped on a duck!," I concluded my joke, laughing until I was suddenly engulfed by an unfamiliar pair of arms. A fruity perfume overcoming me. I was released, but the hands stayed grasping at my shoulders.

"Oh my God, it's like looking at myself twenty-something years ago," she said running a hand across the side of my face, "I didn't believe it. I was going to insist on another test, but this is just uncanny. I don't need a test to know you're my daughter. Now come, tell me everything."

"Mom," Alice and Emmett both said in a warning tone, stopping Renee in her tracks from dragging me over to the couch.

"Too much," Alice said.

"Too fast," Emmett said.

"The kids are right Renee, one step at a time," Charlie said, making his presence known to me for the first time. I hadn't even noticed he or Alice were in the room until they spoke, I was so consumed by Renee.

"You're right," Renee sighed, "I'm sorry Bella. This is just such a big deal for me."

"Me too," I said softly. She caressed my face once more and I saw tear drops brimming in her eyes. Emmett wasn't kidding.

"One step at a time right?" she said her voice much softer and calmer.

"Right," Alice said firmly, "Why don't we all sit down, have some iced tea, and relax. Bella did just get out of work."

"Iced tea would be great honey," Renee said, sinking into an arm chair.

"Bella?" Alice asked me.

"Yes, iced tea would be nice," I smiled gratefully at her, as Emmett, Charlie, and I all took seats around the room.

After Alice handed out the drinks and sat down herself, Renee began, "So Bella tell me how it is you came to meet Alice and Emmett."

"Well I guess it all started when I met my boyfriend Edward," I began.

"Ohhh is he cute? What does he do? Are you in love?" Renee gushed.

"Mom," Alice said in a warning tone.

"Of course dear, I'm sorry. Please continue," she said to me, "We can talk all about that later."

"Well a few days after I met him, I met his cousin Rosalie, Emmett's girlfriend, by chance. We got friendly pretty quickly and she told me she'd help me out with any relationship problems I had, like some kind of love guru. Well anyway, Edward ended up inviting me to a concert his band was playing at, and of course I went. There I met Jasper, his brother and Alice's boyfriend. That night he made a comment about how my eyes were the same shade as his girlfriends."

"Oh yes, I remember Rosie and Jasper," Renee said, and I could tell there was more bubbling under the surface begging to be blurted out, but she held her tongue.

"The next day Rose came by work to see how it went, and after she saw me, she went to visit Edward and Jasper. When I talked to Edward later, I pieced together that she was his cousin. Anyway she planned a double date between the two of us and her boyfriend. That's how I met Emmett. I think it was less than a week later that I met Alice. Edward and I had been out and Jasper had texted him to ask for reinforcements because Alice was making him watch a chick flick, so we went over," I looked over at Alice smiling.

"I felt a connection with Bella immediately," she grinned at me, "We kind of studied each other, Jasper had told me that we had almost identical eyes and he was right."

"Is that when you thought you might be related?" Renee asked.

"Oh no," I answered, "It wasn't until weeks later when Alice was planning their birthday party. I think it was Jasper who complained that their birthday was so far away, and I asked about it and found out we have the same birthday. Then I told them that in the file I had gotten it said that the woman who had dropped me off may have mumbled something about triplets."

"Then I got really suspicious," Alice added, "And I kind of jumped the gun and surprised everyone and invited dad for a spur of the moment picnic that I knew everyone would be at. Well that turned out pretty disastrous, but dad did admit that Emmett and I had a sister and that we actually had been triplets. It was a huge mess, really."

I nodded my head, "I got pretty upset, but a few days later I talked to Charlie and together we decided we were interested in doing a paternity test. And I guess you really know the rest of the story after that."

Renee nodded her head, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. It sounds just awful."

"Thank you," I said softly.

"I'm glad to know you're alive," Renee began her tone somewhat remorseful, "I'm sure Charlie told you, I was devastated when it happened. A total wreck. I had so been looking forward to all of my kids, and then to have you ripped away like that. It nearly broke my heart. I did my best to move on, but you were always in the back of my mind. I guess I never grieved properly. The doctors and nurses had said that you were so small and there was a high chance you would have suffered brain damage, that it was better that you didn't have to suffer. I couldn't really believe them though, for the few seconds I got to hold you, everything seemed perfect to me. I was sure that you were lucky."

"Sorry about that," Emmett said with a crooked smile, "It was my big head that caused the problem."

"And yet you still turned out bigger than me," Alice sighed, "I guess it's because you didn't have Emmett hogging all the food growing up. You got to have full proper meals all to yourself."

"I was lucky," I said smiling softly at Renee. The mood was lightened thanks to my siblings, but it was still a heavy subject matter.

We talked for a while longer, just getting to know each other really. Renee asked me about what I was like growing up, she was practically at the edge of her seat, taking in all I had to say. She told me about her life, shared some cute tales from her childhood, stories of things she did while Alice and Emmett were growing up, and what'd she'd been up to since they moved out. I told her about school, and work, Angela, my apartment, and of course, Edward. Everyone was quite happy. Alice and Emmett even learned some things about their mom. Charlie was pretty interested too; Renee asked some questions about things I hadn't even thought to tell him. Overall everyone had a good time.

"Well I for one am ready to hold that hospital accountable for what they've done to our family," Charlie said after the last story had been told and there was a lull in the conversation.

Renee nodded, "I'd like to know what happened myself. I'm pretty pissed at whoever decided to take our little girl away from us."

"How exactly do you go about doing that?" Emmett asked.

"I guess we start by suing the hospital don't we?" Charlie said, "And there'll be an investigation of course. Hopefully we'll be able to find out who dropped you off at that orphanage, and they can be brought to justice."

I swallowed hard, nodding my head silently. Everyone's emotions were running high, but I guess I was to wrapped up in being happy about having my family that I hadn't stopped to think about being angry. Angela did always tell me I was too nice. I just always thought that I saw the world different from everyone else. I'm usually able to see the good in the situation and can let go of the bad, but they were right. What happened to me, to us, just wasn't fair. Nothing can change what happened, but I did want retribution. This was for the best, right? Charlie and Renee talked about it for a while, and I nodded and responded when appropriate, but I was only half listening. Actually I was getting pretty tired.

"Mom, dad," Alice said, "I think we're doing really well, and we're on a roll, but Bella's eyes have glazed over. I think it might be time for her to get home."

"Oh dear, I'm sorry. I hadn't even thought…Of course," Renee said her concern for me coming out, "You don't need to sit through all of this."

"You need a ride home kiddo?" Charlie asked.

"Actually, I text Edward twenty minutes ago to come pick her up," Emmett said sheepishly, "He should be here soon."

Renee looked surprised and Alice smirked at him.

"My brother the sneaky bastard," she quipped.

"Hey I could tell she was getting tired and I figured Edward would want to spend some time with her. I'm sure he wants to know how everything went," Emmett shrugged.

"I didn't say you weren't insightful," Alice responded, "It's just normally my forte, not yours."

Renee practically went to pieces again when Edward came to pick me up. It took us an extra ten minutes to leave. Edward stopped and grabbed me some fast food for dinner on the way home. I told him things went well with Renee and that we were planning on suing the hospital and figuring out what happened. Thankfully he didn't press me for more information. He laid in bed with me and watched TV. I must have drifted off, because I woke up to Edward tucking me in and kissing my forehead.

"Don't leave me," I whispered softly in my half-conscious state.

"I won't," he whispered back, "I'm just going to use the bathroom."

I made a happy cooing noise and snuggled back into my bed. I'm unclear whether I dreamed what happened next or if it actually did happen, but in some world when Edward came back to bed he told me that he loved me. I didn't remember it when I first woke up, it wasn't until I was in the shower that the foggy memory hit me. Edward had gotten into bed with me, and asked if I was awake. I let out a soft noncommittal moan. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head, 'Bella, I love you,' he whispered into my hair. I debated for a while whether or not it was real, but finally gave up.

"I made breakfast," Edward said to me, kissing my briefly as I stepped out of the bathroom rubbing my towel across my hair. I looked over at the table.

"Cereal and orange juice does not constitute making breakfast," I teased, "But thank you just the same." I kissed him again and he pat my butt as he disappeared into the bathroom himself. It looked as though he had already eaten. Edward sang in the shower as I ate, and for once I enjoyed that the walls were a bit thin. Listening to him as I ate rebooted my whole thought process and I decided that I would ask him about it when he got out of the shower. I was just putting my dishes in the sink when the water went off. I assume he had stepped out of the shower, and he began humming.

"You ready to get going?" He asked as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"Go? Where are we going?" I asked confused. Had I forgotten some plans that we'd made?

"It's a surprise. You better take this," he said reaching over and grabbing one of my camera bags. I didn't remember packing it, he must have done it for me.

"What's all this? What surprise? Where are we going?" I asked, my eyebrows arched as I took the bag from him, getting ready to look inside.

"No peeking," he warned me, "And I think you're forgetting the meaning of the word surprise."

I pouted at him, but begrudgingly left the bag zipped as I put it over my shoulder. I was very curious about what we were doing.

"Don't you pout at me, you'll enjoy it I promise," he smiled and my pout disappeared, "C'mon now or we're going to be late."

I decided it was best just to go along with him, and followed him out the door. When we were in the car, I was trying to figure out where we were going, but he wasn't driving in a direction of anywhere I could possibly think he was going to take me.

"Edward," I began.

"Now, now, I'm still not going to tell you where we're going yet, so don't even try," he warned, "You'll find out soon enough."

"I wasn't going to," I said a bit snappy, but I composed myself before I spoke again, "I was just going to ask you if you tried to talk to me last night when you came back to bed."

He didn't answer for a moment, "Why?"

"Well," I paused, "I have vague memories and I thought you might have. I wasn't really sure if it was a dream or not."

"Well, what did I say?"

"You asked me if I was awake."

"Anything else?"

"I'm not answering anything else until you answer my question."

Again Edward didn't speak right away and when he did his voice was soft and he sounded almost nervous, "I didn't think you heard me."

"So you did tell me that you love me last night?"

"Yes," he said turning to look at me, "Bella I love you. And I'm sorry the first time I told you I'd half hoped you didn't hear me. I was just worried that we'd be moving too fast and I didn't want to scare you away. I don't expect you to feel the same way yet, I'm just a sap."

"Edward," I said with a sigh, "You're ridiculous."

"I know, I know," He said staring at the road, "I wish I hadn't said anything. I promise I won't bring it up again."

"That's not the ridiculous part," I said trying not to giggle, "It's ridiculous that you think you'd be able to scare me away. Edward I love you too."

"Really?" A grin spread across his face and he glanced between me and the road several times.

"Yes," I smiled back at him, "Really."

"Oh Bella," he mused, "I'm so happy. I didn't think you would say so."

"Ridiculous," I muttered.

"Fine, fine, fine, I'm ridiculous," he grinned, "But you love me," and he let out a sort of gleeful laugh.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you. Maybe I should have found out where you're taking me first. Held it over you, ya know?"

"Well no need," he said stopping the car, "We're here."

I looked around, we were at a small park and there was a large white tent set up, "Where is here exactly?"

"Well, now don't be mad, but I got you a gig," he grinned at me, "Friends of my parents are renewing their vows for their twenty-fifth anniversary and you're their photographer."

"Really?" I beamed.

"Yes, really," he laughed and kissed me, "Now c'mon I have people to introduce you to."

**Thanks for reading! I hoped you enjoyed it :)**

**Sad to think there's only about two chapters left.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Sorry it took so long for me to update, I had a hard time deciding how to split the last two chapters.**

**Thanks for the reviews! You guys are great :)**

**Not my characters, just my plot.**

Edward introduced me to the couple, Carmen and Eleazar, both of whom were beyond cordial. They explained to me the flow of the day and what they were looking for in terms of photographs. I was both excited and nervous about it. It was a great opportunity, but I didn't have time to prepare properly. On top of that, these were friends of the Cullens, so if I didn't do well, they would look bad too. I saw Carlisle and Esme and waved. They looked beautiful, as if I could have expected anything else. Edward volunteered to be my assistant, promising that he wouldn't get in my way.

In my opinion, things went really well with the renewal ceremony. During the reception Carmen asked to see some of my pictures, and she was really thrilled with how they were coming out. I was really proud of myself. She said that she would be spreading the word about how 'fabulous' I am to all of her friends, and that if things worked out she'd love to have me take pictures for her future events. Edward beamed at me knowingly. I was actually pretty proud myself.

That evening when I got home I decided to email Mrs. Masen and tell her the good news, about how I had found my family, and how we planned on suing the hospital. I began yawning at an early hour and decided I would curl up in bed with a book. When I woke up in the morning, I still had my book loosely in my hand. That morning at work, to my surprise, Mrs. Masen showed up and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.

"Bella, oh Bella!" she said squeezing me, "I am so happy for you. This is such big news, an email wouldn't do. I had to come see you!"

"Mrs. Masen," I said somewhat shocked, "I wasn't expecting you. I'm so happy to see you."

"Bella, I don't know how many times I've asked you. We're past this Mrs. Masen stuff. Call me Elizabeth, please."

"Sorry," I said looking down and shaking my head slightly, "Old habits, you know?"

"So do you know what the plan is? I'm happy to help in any way I can," she gushed.

"Well I'm not really sure, Charlie and Renee are working on it," I said biting my lip, feeling bad now that I hadn't done anything to get more involved. I hadn't even spoken to them yesterday.

"Well do you know if they've thought about going public with it? Bringing it to the media?" she asked.

"I was actually just coming to talk to Bella about that," Renee said. I hadn't even heard her come in.

"Oh my," Elizabeth gasped, "You must be Renee. I certainly see where Bella got her looks."

Renee nodded her head, "Thank you."

"Renee, this is Elizabeth, the director of the orphanage I grew up part of," I introduced, "Elizabeth, as you've figured out, this is Renee, my mother."

"It's so nice to meet you," Renee said offering out her hand, "I was actually planning on getting a hold of you today, so this is a great coincidence."

"It's a pleasure," Elizabeth said, shaking her hand, "I was just telling Bella how I'm more than willing to help in any way that I can."

I got them both coffee, on the house of course, and the two of them took over a table. From what I could tell, Renee was filling Elizabeth in on their plans for the hospital. Elizabeth was being very agreeable and the two seemed to be getting along well. During my first break I went to sit with them.

"Bella, honey," Renee said, "I came to find out how private you want our story kept. If you want we can keep the media out entirely, it's up to you. If you do want to share, it might help, and we have lots of options."

"What kind of options?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well we were thinking that maybe we'd do an interview with the local paper, about how our family was brought back together. Nothing too in depth, and nothing about the hospital. We're hoping that someone will take notice and contact us about it before we have to do anything," she explained as Elizabeth watched on silently, "But if you don't want to we don't have to at all. We don't have to do anything with the media, we can keep all of it quiet."

"You think it would help?" I was still unsure, but I wanted to make things as easy for my family as possible.

"Well we're not sure exactly. We're hoping it will. It can't hurt anyway," Renee shrugged. I got the impression that there was more to it than that, but she wasn't volunteering any more information.

"I need to think about it," I responded.

"Of course," Renee smiled, "We want to make sure you're comfortable with the decision before we do anything."

We were silent for a moment, not really looking at one another.

"Bella," Elizabeth began, "From what I can tell you have a very good family. I am very grateful for that. I've always wanted good things for you. I've got to get back to work, but if you need anything, anything at all, just let me know, alright?"

I nodded my head and the two of us stood up. I gave her a hug as she left, promising I'd be in touch soon. I sat back down and looked at Renee.

"She's a nice lady," she said, "I'm glad you had her, growing up." She sounded sad.

"Renee," I wanted to comfort her, but I had no idea what to say, "No one could expect more from you than what you've already given. There is no reason for you to feel bad for not giving what you couldn't give."

"I know," she said, letting out a little sob, "It just makes me so angry knowing that things could have been different. We lost so much, all that time we could have spent together. Who knows how our lives would have been different."

"No one knows, that's the beauty of life. We don't know. We're not supposed to know," I said, "I figure we're just supposed to live the best we can and be grateful for what we have. I honestly don't care about getting anything from the hospital. Nothing anyone can do is going to change what happened to us, and I'm okay with that. It's just how my life is. I do want to know why things happened the way they did, and I do want someone to be held accountable for their actions. I want to do what I can to prevent this from happening to someone else, but that's all I want. You can't put a price on my life, and even if you could, I don't care about the money."

Renee sighed and gave me a half smile, "You are so wise for someone so young. You're much more like Charlie than you are me I think. Alice takes after me much more, and Emmett, well I think he's somewhere in the middle. I've got some good kids."

"Thank you," I blushed.

"As much as I hate that I wasn't the one to raise you, I can't complain. You turned out pretty damn good and I'm so very lucky to have you just as you are," she said with pride, "And that boy better feel the same way, he better treat you right."

"Edward?"

"Yes. Now tell me about him. I didn't get to spend much time with him the other night. He sure is good looking though. Those Cullens made some beautiful babies."

I felt that this was one of those moment had I grown up with Renee I would have blushed, rolled my eyes, and said 'Moooooom' as if she was the most embarrassing person in the world. Instead I found her endearing.

"They do don't they? I'm sure Esme would be quite pleased to hear you say so," I smiled and proceeded to tell her about Edward.

That evening I thought about it and decided that doing a small newspaper article wouldn't be such a bad thing. I decided that assuming we had boundaries, it wouldn't be a huge invasion of privacy and it was a good way to let people know that things like this did actually happen. When I told Charlie and Renee about my decision, they set it up with the Seattle newspaper that many people in Forks read as well, since that was where I was born. The paper was eager for the story and we arranged for the whole family to meet with the reporter Wednesday morning. A photographer came along as well and took a picture of the whole family to print alongside the article. It was a relatively painless process and the reporter informed us that our story would run in the Sunday paper, something Charlie was very pleased about.

I wished that we could read the article before it was published, to make sure they didn't put a spin on the story, or take our quotes out of context, but I understood that we weren't allowed, so I didn't even bother. I had a weird sort of week after the interview. I was done with my classes, so I got Carmen and Eleazar's pictures done in no time. In fact Edward went with me Friday morning to bring over the prints and the CD that had the digital copies. I was quite proud of the 'piece de resistance' as it were, the only framed piece Carmen had asked for. Collage seemed too trivial of a word for what I had done, but in essence that's what it was. I had refused to show Edward when he asked, telling him it wasn't fair for him to see it before the customers. He grumbled about it, and I saw him trying to sneak a peek when we put it in the back of his Volvo, but it was well wrapped so it remained hidden.

Carmen was all too excited to let us in, oogling the packaged up frame Edward carried in. She gave us both a hug and a kiss on the cheek, settling us in her sitting room, offering us iced tea. I was amazed by the size of the place, just as I had been when I had seen Carlisle and Esme's house. From their demeanor at their vow renewal I would have never had guessed that they had this kind of money. Then again I could have said the same thing about all the Cullens. Carmen and I went over all the photos as we sipped our drinks, Edward at an awkward angle to really see the photos properly, but he was supportive just the same.

When it came time to open up the framed piece, Carmen was beside herself. Thankfully I had marked which side was the top on the packaging, so that when the wrapping fell away, everything was revealed in the way it was meant to be displayed. Carmen let out a gasp of excitement and clapped her hands to her mouth. Edward stared at it a moment, a twinkle in his eye, before looking up at me and grinning.

"Oh Bella," Carmen said while giving me a hug from in front of the frame, "It's beautiful."

"It really is," Edward agreed, "You've outdone yourself."

I blushed, but smiled in pride just the same, "Well thank you. I'm glad you like it. I really enjoyed putting it together."

In the center was a staged shot of the whole family just before the reception, and surround that were candid shots of various parts of the family throughout the evening. I used pastel colored mattes instead of the plain white ones to bring the whole thing together, and the piece really popped against the cherry wood frame.

"It's better than I imagined," Carmen gushed, "Oh this is fantastic. I will most certainly be spreading the word about Bella Swan!"

Edward took a step forward and squeezed my hand as Carmen went off to get my payment.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered to me, kissing me softly for just a moment.

Carmen cleared her throat, "Well aren't you two just so sweet. You Cullen boys do sure find the best women. Come now finish your iced tea, and Bella, Edward tells me you did an interview for a newspaper article."

"Oh yes, we just did the interview Wednesday morning," I said, and I proceeded to tell her all about it.

She had no idea that I had grown up an orphan. She was moved by my story and gave me another big hug. Telling me how wonderful it was that I was reunited with my family. We left just before lunch, and I smiled at her brightly, thanking her for her hospitality. It wasn't until we got into the car that I opened the envelope she had given me. A check was in it and when I saw how much she had written it out for I was shocked.

"Stop! We have to go back, I can't take this," I said tugging at Edward's sleeve.

He was clearly startled by my sudden outburst and pulled over to the side of the road.

"What, what is it?"

"Did you know about this? I mean I expected to get a good amount of money because of that framed piece, but this is too much."

Edward just stared at me and shook his head. He chuckled a bit and pulled back onto the road.

"No, wait, what are you doing? Edward Cullen! Take me back there right now!"

He outright laughed, "She wouldn't take it back no matter how much you insisted on it. That's just Carmen's way."

"Stop laughing at me! And if that's how it's going to be fine," I pouted, "I just won't cash it."

Edward shook his head again, "Bella, love, it's no good. She's notice you hadn't cashed it and find a way to get you to have the money somehow."

"Two-thousand dollars is way too much Edward. Even one-thousand would have been excessive," I said firmly.

"That's just the way it is. If you don't want it for yourself, feel free to spend it on me," he teased.

"Oh shut up," I grumbled, hitting him lightly on the chest.

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. The last chapter should be up early next week :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Ahhh I can't believe this is the end. Thank you to all of you who have stuck with me since the beginning. Thanks for all the reviews, the favorites, the alerts, all of the support you guys have given me and my little story. This is for all of you.**

**I still do not own the characters, I'm just using them for my little plot.**

I got up early Sunday morning, crawling over Edward, to go pick up the paper. I had woken up before my early alarm had even gone off, excitement coursing through my veins. I never would have thought that I would be so worked up about the newspaper. I was practically buzzing when I got back to the apartment, where a half asleep Edward grumbled that I should have brought back breakfast. I was amazed by the spread the newspaper had provided for our story. We took up half of page two and continued onto page eight. I was happy enough with the picture they used. We were all happy and it looked pretty good. The story started out with the tragic tale of my supposed death and toll it took on my family. Then there was a bit about my childhood, how I spent time with foster families but never fitting in paired with my desire to know my real family. Then there was the condensed version of how I met Alice and Emmett 'through so mutual friends' and how things just started to unfold. Other than the implication that Charlie and Renee were reconsidering their own relationship, which was of course nonsense, the story of our reuniting was quite tasteful. Despite unwarranted initial shock of seeing my life on display, I was quite pleased with how the story turned out. I hoped that this would somehow help our search for what had happened that day, which was thankfully left out of the article.

I read it twice for good measure, and by the time I had finished, Edward was ready to read it himself. He reached out and held my hand as he read, squeezing it occasionally. A couple of time he looked over the paper at me, as if he were finding out about my past for the first time. When he was done, he pulled me close and kissed me all over my face while whispering how wonderful this was, calling me brave.

"Does this make me a celebrity now?" I asked, teasing.

"Hmmm," Edward mumbled against my neck as he pressed soft kisses on my skin, "I'm not sure I would go that far. I mean you didn't even make the first page."

I giggled at his playful response, "Are you sure? I think you're just saying that because you don't want to be outshone. I mean maybe now that I've got connections, after we do the photo shoot for the band, I can pull some strings and get you guys published too."

"Oh you're gonna pull some strings huh?" he laughed, tickling me, "I never knew that you'd become so powerful after your story was published."

I began laughing and squirming at his tickles, "Edward…stop….nooo…I can't….breathe…..stooopp!"

Thankfully he did stop and he smiled down at me, and I couldn't help but look up at his freckle dusted nose and forget my momentary anger at his actions.

"I love you," he said pressing his lips to mine, "Don't forget that."

"I love you too Edward," I said sitting up and resting my head in the crook of his neck, "So what do you think is going to happen now?"

"I dunno," he said after a moment, "Hopefully something good. I mean part of the point of the article was the hope that someone would step forward and say something right? And if no one does, well at least then your story is out there. With any luck the same mistake won't be made again, and the hospital will be prepared for what's coming to them right?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "I just hope it doesn't come to that you know?"

Little did I know, it wasn't something I had to worry about. That afternoon I got a call from the reporter that covered our story. He told me that they had been getting a lot of emails in regards to it, some of which were addressed to me or other members of our family. He said that he had already talked to Charlie, and he was wondering if I would like some of the emails forwarded to myself as well. I agreed immediately, too curious to even think of denying the opportunity. I gave him my email address and as soon as I got off the phone, Charlie called me. He was calling to tell me about the emails as well, not knowing the reported had planned on calling me himself. We talked about the article briefly, and we agreed that when we went through the emails if any of them seemed promising, we'd take note.

Sometime after Edward and I ate lunch, I decided to check and see if I had received any of the emails yet. I was overwhelmed when I saw that there were over a hundred all ready for me to wade through, and it seemed as I skimmed through them that they just kept coming. Most were supportive of our family, some angry at the hospital, and some were full of pity. After looking them over for about an hour, I decided to take a break. I hadn't read anything significant and as great as it was to have this support from the community, enough was enough.

"One woman even offered to adopt me, can you believe that?" I groaned at Edward, who had been sitting and strumming his guitar as I read, making comments here and there.

"Maybe she didn't realize how old you were," he responded, trying to be optimistic, "Or maybe, she has some kind of weird Woody Allen thing going on."

I laughed, "Well thank God I can't be adopted, so I don't actually have to worry about it."

"I can scare off the crazies," he commented, continuing to strum along, "I can out crazy anyone."

"I'm sure you can," I rolled my eyes, "But I don't think that will be necessary."

Charlie called me later in the evening, there was an email that caught his eye, that he wanted to tell me about. Unlike all of the others, this one didn't have a clear message of support, or anger, it simply said it was imperative that this woman be able to speak with us, and that she was very sorry that we were forced to live our lives separated. I found the email and read it to myself as I was on the phone with him. Since it was the first of its kind that showed any sort of promise, we decided it couldn't hurt to contact her. Charlie decided he would make the arrangements for all of us to meet her, ensuring that the police would be on standby just in case things went south. I became anxious again, could I be one step closer to finding out what happened to me? Luckily Charlie was able to schedule a meeting with the woman for the following evening.

Edward insisted I take the day off work, going so far as to call out on my behalf. The family made plans to get together earlier on to discuss strategy. Edward, Jasper, and Rosalie planned on being there for the meeting, but were planning on observing. Edward confided in me that he and Jasper were prepared to intervene if anyone should get physical, and Rose had the call to the police ready at a moment's notice. I barely remember the afternoon, sitting around with the whole family, discussing possible different scenarios. I couldn't tell you what the plan was, but I could tell you how the butterflies had been attacking my stomach all day. Unbeknownst to me, Renee had also invited Mrs. Masen to come take part, which I was pleased about. This did involve her too after all.

We all took our places, sitting next to our significant others, expect of course for Elizabeth, Charlie, and Renee. I was between Charlie and Edward. Renee and Elizabeth were on his other side, and there was a gap. Jasper was on Edward's other side, then Alice and Rose. Emmett sat beside Rose, all of us speaking in soft voices, as if we were afraid of interrupting something important. Most of us had emotionless faces, however I noticed for a split second, Rose smirked as if she had a secret when Emmett squeezed her hand. I might have imagined it because it was gone as quickly as it had come, just the same I thought it was bizarre.

When the woman arrived, Mrs. Masen was eyeing her strangely. She didn't say anything, but there was tension between them. The woman introduced herself as Jane, and we all sat down uneasily in an imperfect circle. Jane was staring at me, though she was desperately trying not to. She would look at me and then quickly look down, busying herself with picking imaginary lint off of her clothes.

"I..I…" she stuttered, finally breaking the silence, "I'm so sorry."

Charlie let out a gruff grunt, while the rest of us remained silent and stony faced, unsure of where she was going with this.

"I suppose I deserve this," she said softly to herself, and I'm not sure if anyone else heard her or not, "Well I am the reason for the pain and suffering your family has endured. I am the reason you were separated."

I saw Emmett gripping the arms of his chair tightly, his mouth forming into a small tight line. Renee let out a bit of a gasp, but didn't speak. Everyone had gotten clearly tenser, and I was about to say something, I'm still not sure what, but Jane continued.

"I am so sorry to have to done this to all of you. I know it doesn't make sense and certainly does not make up for what I did, but at the time I thought it was for the best."

"Excuse me!" I burst out, "How could telling my family I was dead and then dropping me at an orphanage be for the best?! What would possibly possess you to do such a thing!"

Jane jumped at my shouting, ducking her head instinctively. When she looked up at me again, it was as if she were absorbing my words. There was a level of fear in her eyes, but she was accepting. Everyone else was staring at me as well, expect for Charlie who was staring down Jane. Edward reached over and rubbed my arm soothingly, nodding his head at me as if to validate my actions.

"Well," Charlie demanded, "Answer her."

"I," she began before drawing a large breath, which I think was mostly to calm herself, "I'm so glad to see you alive and healthy. I hadn't thought from the beginning that you would have survived. Everything looked so bad. I was amazed when you survived the birth. I didn't think you would reasonably live past a couple of days, and I was convinced that if you did it wouldn't have been a full life. All the signs pointed to you having brain damage, and I know what a struggle that can be."

Jane stopped for a moment, taking another breath before turning to look at Charlie and Renee, "I knew that you weren't in the best place finically, and I thought I'd be saving you so much heartache in the long run. I thought if you were able to mourn and let her go early on that your lives would be more whole. You wouldn't have to deal with the pain of watching her suffer for a few days before dying, or worse having to commit to the strains of having a disadvantaged child. I thought it would be best for everyone involved if you were to be separated. I thought everyone would be much happier."

"But I saw her dead," Charlie choked out, clearly trying to keep his emotions in check, "How?"

"When you saw her, we had thought she was dead as well," Jane explained, "The doctor sent me to take care of things, and I saw that she was barely holding on. I managed to revive her, but I didn't think she was going to last, and you were already to upset, I couldn't bear to get your hopes up all over again, so I lied. I told the doctor you were gone and I had taken her to the morgue to be cremated. Instead I took her to the NICU. Hid her until I could get away. She was stable enough with just a small oxygen tube, and by the time we got to the orphanage she seemed to be doing well enough without it, which I was grateful for. It would have been awful of me to drop her off at the orphanage only to have her die as soon as I left."

"Oh yeah because me dying a few days after getting there would have been so much better," I said angrily, rolling my eyes, "If I was doing so much better, why were you so certain I was going to die still. Why not bring me back to the hospital."

Jane was clearly fighting back tears, "Well a lot of the time things seem to be getting better just before the worst. It was a mistake, a huge mistake, I had no right, I should never have done it. I'm so ashamed."

"And you should be!" Elizabeth said firmly, "Coming to the orphanage and dropping off a newborn and bolting at the first opportunity. Why not just drop her on the front steps and ring the bell for Christ sake! Showing your face to me like you were bothered by what you were doing."

"I was bothered by it, don't you see?" Jane sobbed, "I thought about checking on her so many times. Driving home I thought about coming back and picking her up. I couldn't stand myself. I ended up quitting shortly after. I was disgusted with myself."

"How dare you," Charlie said, "You come in here spewing this nonsense about your best intentions as if trying to much us feel better about your mistake, and then you have the audacity to tell us how bad you felt? Jesus you're trying to make yourself out to be the victim here! You have NO right!"

Jane was outright sobbing, nodding her head in agreement, covering her face with her hands. Renee yanked Charlie down into his seat, whispering furiously into his ear. Emmett looked as if he were about to squeeze the chair he was sitting on into a pulp. Even Alice looked quite cross, as if she would lunge at the next person to make a wrong move. I was upset, but I was oddly calm about the whole thing. I had finally figured out what had happened to me.

"I take all the blame. I am the only one to blame," Jane got out through her sobs, "I will admit to it all in court, I'll do anything I can to make up for even a fraction of what I've done to you. To all of you."

Rose stepped out of the room for a moment, her phone out. I assumed she was calling to inform the police, whom were already on alert, of what had happened. I knew Jane would have to be taken into custody to make a formal statement.

Charlie was red faced and looked as if he wanted to scream, but Renee's words had clearly had an effect on him. All the emotion in the air made me feel as if a bomb had just gone off. Jasper looked especially effected by all of it, he had even looked to be in pain. He was staring at Alice, I assume to figure out how best to help.

Then I spoke, "Thank you."

If she hadn't looked up at me through the sudden silence, I wouldn't have been sure if anyone had heard me. Edward shot me a questioning glance, but simply squeezed my hand.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm quite upset about all of this, but thank you. For years I've wondered what happened to me, even more so since I've finally found my family, and you've finally given me an answer. It doesn't make up for what you've done, but I've finally found a sense of peace. You certainly didn't have to come here and put yourself on trial like this. You could have just continued to live your life, ignoring the past, but you didn't. No one would have ever known, so thank you for doing that. Thank you for piecing together the broken fragments of my life."

Again we sat in stunned silence, Edward the only one able to look me in the eye. At that moment I wanted nothing more in the world than to kiss him senseless. However Elizabeth distracted me from my fleeting thoughts of lust towards my boyfriend.

"Bella you always were always wise beyond your years. But you certainly have a point," she sighed.

There were murmurs of agreement, but no one seemed to have a response. The police showed up, and everything ended up becoming resolved pretty calmly. As she walked out, Jane looked at me for a moment.

"Thank you," she said, "You are much kinder than I've deserved."

I nodded, unsure of how to really react. Over the next few days, things were turning up. Since Jane had confessed to everything we were able to come to an easy settlement, and we didn't have to get the hospital involved at all. The tension that had come across everyone became somewhat abated. When we all finally got together again, we had a bit of a going away party for Renee. It was with a heavy heart that she was leaving, but she assured me that she would be back for the big birthday party. When the opportunity presented itself, I cornered Emmett and Rose.

"So what was with that sweet little smirk of yours I noticed the other day, when we were talking to Jane. And you two have been awfully suspicious lately. What's up?" I asked them, staring Rose down.

She opened her mouth and closed it like a fish, and Emmett took a step in front of her, "You'll find out soon enough sis. Actually momentarily I think."

"Really?" Rose questioned looking up at him.

"Why not?" he shrugged, "The time seems right."

"I guess so," she said beaming up at him. She stuck a hand in her pocket and grabbed hold of his arm with the other one.

They walked out into the center of the room in front of everybody and Emmett loudly cleared his throat.

"Excuse me everyone. Since we're all here, Rose and I have an announcement."

Everyone turned and stared at them and Rose pulled her hand out of her pocket, which was now sporting a sparkly ring.

"We're engaged!" she shouted excitedly. There were gasps and then a few cheers and congratulations all around. I personally gave them big hugs, and as Rose embraced me she whispered in my ear telling me I would of course be a bridesmaid.

It was amazing what a change my life had made in two short months. I had a family. I had a loving boyfriend, and I was happy. I didn't know what was coming next for me, but I was for once looking forward to the future instead of reflecting on the past.

**The End!**

**Thank you all for reading! Feel free to check out my other story, Crossing Boundaries (which will now be updated more regularly) if you're interested.**


	29. Epilogue

**Wow, what overwhelming interest in an epilogue, I hope this is satisfactory!**

**Sadly the characters are not mine, just the plot.**

_Five Years Later_

"Do you, Isabella Marie Swan, take Edward Anthony Cullen as your lawfully wedded husband?"

Charlie understood why Elizabeth walked me down the aisle. He wasn't offended, and Elizabeth began crying when I asked her if she would give me away. It was a simple enough ceremony, small, intimate, but just the same the whole family was involved.

"I do," I said firmly, staring into Edward's eyes, my heart pounding loudly in my chest.

Rosalie and Emmett tied the knot just a year after he proposed. She described the feeling of the "I dos" as the most thrilling moment of her life. She compared it to the feeling of being on the top of a rollercoaster, the moment just before the big drop. Just about two years later, Alice said it was if the rest of the world faded away, and she and Jasper were the only two people that mattered.

"And do you, Edward Anthony Cullen, take Isabella Marie Swan as your lawfully wedded wife?"

I've gotta say, they were both right. I knew we were surrounded by the people we cared about most in the world, but at that moment my heart was racing and Edward was all I could see.

"I do," he said, squeezing my hand, giving me one of his infamous crooked smiles.

It was dizzying. Nothing could compare to how I felt at that moment. Although Alice assured me that would change when I have children. In fact she said the feeling is even more intense, and just looking at the bond between her and my niece, I know she's right.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

There were cheers all around us as Edward pressed his lips against mine with a passion unlike I'd ever known before. It was the screech of excitement from my nephew that really brought me back to the present. Rose was jealous when two months after the honeymoon, Alice asked us to join her on a covert mission to the drug store for a pregnancy test. When the results came back positive, Alice reminded Rose that she got to have the first wedding, so it was only fair. Six months later, when Rose found out about baby Stephan, all jealousy was forgotten.

As we turned to head back down the aisle together, I tripped and tumbled right into Edward. He, of course, being the smooth man that he is swept me up into his arms and carried me as if the whole thing had been secretly choreographed. After a particularly loud hoot from Emmett my whole face got hot, instead of just my already rosy cheeks. Edward chuckled and kissed me on the nose, setting me down once we had reached the last row of wedding guests.

It was very bizarre being on the other side of the camera as the photographer snapped away carefully organized shots. Carmen had been true to her word, and I had developed a level of attention I could have never obtained on my own. I certainly wasn't a world renowned photographer, in fact I wasn't even nationally recognized, but I was somewhat well known in the Pacific Northwest. I gained momentum doing weddings and other social events, but I was able to branch out and showcase my talents in other arenas as well. Everything worked out nicely, because I was able to go with Edward when the band went on tour. They never got famous, but they did a couple of small tours, and released a grand total of three albums. Although they weren't "officially together" anymore, the guys still got together a few times a month to jam, and would, from time to time, still do shows here in Seattle.

"I have a surprise for you Mrs. Cullen," Edward whispered in my ear as dinner was ending, "Stay right here."

Alice quickly took Edward's place next to me as he disappeared, "Funny how so very little has changed, despite such a big life event taking place. I mean Jasper is still your brother-in-law, Maria is still your niece. I mean Carlisle and Esme were already family."

"Gee thanks Alice," I said sarcastically.

"No, no," she interrupted, "I guess I'm not saying it right. I mean, it's just kind of like, what took you so long? I mean it's been pretty clear from the beginning that you two were meant to be. From the moment you two moved into together, what four years ago now, it's like you were a married couple. It was cemented when you guys bought that house months ago, as if it weren't already obvious. This is just the official party for your name change. You're lucky you know? Marriage is going to be like second nature to you. I'm just surprised you guys waited this long. I was sure you were just itching to settle down and jump on the baby band wagon."

"Well the way I look at it is this: From when I met Edward, everything just became so chaotic. There were so many big changes all at once, and he was just the constant that kept me through it. No matter what happened we got to just be us. Everything was so exciting, and this was just simple. It wasn't really something either of us thought about I guess. We didn't need a big change, we had enough. From finding my family, to the settlement with Jane, to my success with my photograph, to all the good things that happened with his music, and everything in between. Simple was good for both of us. I guess you're right, marriage isn't going to be an adjustment for us, but isn't that a good thing?"

I was distracted from my rant when Alice grabbed at my arm, pointing at the stage that Edward was now standing on, his guitar strapped across his shoulder. He smiled at me, and gave me a wave, before clearing his throat. He stared around the room as everyone looked up at him, and he actually looked kind of nervous.

"Five years ago," he spoke into the microphone, "I met my soul mate in a coffee shop. That first time we met, I had no idea what was in store for us. Had you asked me what I thought my life would be like now, I'm not sure I'd have an answer for you, and if I did, well I don't think I'd paint a picture quite like this. I guess I would have hoped to be a famous rock star with a Grammy or two under my belt. I don't think I ever thought I'd become a freelance music critic, or that I'd work with the love of my life at an orphanage, teaching children music. I can safely say that this is the much better option, and I'd like to think that my twenty-three-year-old-self would be proud of my twenty-eight-year-old-self. What I do know for sure is that I'd never be where I am today without the love and support of a good woman. For me, Bella is that good woman. In fact, she's the best woman. It's been an interesting journey getting here, and I couldn't imagine anyone else being at my side. So Bella, my love, my wife, this is for you."

Jasper had joined him on stage at some point during his speech and the two of them performed the song Edward had written for me when we had first begun dating. I sat and listened, staring at my husband with adoration. I hadn't realized I had cried until Alice quickly wiped a tear off of my cheek before my make-up could smudge. When the song was over, I stood up as Edward handed his guitar to Jasper. He jumped down off the stage and the two of us met in the middle of the dance floor, and kissed. In the background I heard Jasper propose a toast to us, and our friends and family drinking to us. As we pulled apart, I grinned wickedly at Edward.

"You're not the only one with a surprise you now," I whispered to him, before clearing my throat loudly to get everyone's attention.

I looked over at Jasper and he tossed me a wireless mic, "Well I'm not quite sure I can top that beautiful speech, but it is my turn now. I couldn't be happier that all of you could be here today. It means the world to me, and to Edward to share this special day with the people we love. You've all been an important part of our journey, and although I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Edward, I hope you all tag along too. That being said, it seems right to share this with you all now. You all know that Edward and I recently bought a house, but what none of you know is that we're going to be needing your help redecorating already, because I'm pregnant."

There were gasps, cheers, and applause all around, but I was only focused on Edward, who's jaw had dropped. He pressed a hand to my stomach, and silently asked for confirmation. I simply nodded my head grinning like an idiot. He picked me up and spun me around, and when he put me back down, we were surrounded by people, patting us on the back and congratulating us.

"How long have you known? Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, oblivious to the excitement around us.

"Well I was going to tell you sooner, but it never seemed like the right moment. Besides, I figured I might as well wait until you made an honest woman out of me so you couldn't go running for the hills."

"Bella?"

"Edward?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And there it was, the cherry on top of little orphan Bella's happy ending.

**Thank you all a million times over for reading my story. I really and truly hope you enjoyed it.**


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